Things Change

As I write this on Sunday, it seems like there is snow everywhere you look.  There are huge piles of snow all over town.  If you get out in the country, you can see the remnants of huge drifts that blocked every road in the area.  Outside one of the doors of the church there’s a drift as tall as I am.  A lot of the streets still have snow on them.  Even though we’ve had a few days of melting, it seems like there is snow absolutely everywhere.

But you know what?  In a month or six weeks or so, I’ll be able to ride my bicycle on those streets.  It is going to get warmer.  Spring is going to come.  Now, that will create problems of its own--at some point, instead of seeing snow everywhere, it’s going to seem like we can see water everywhere.  Some places, like southeastern South Dakota and a large part of Nebraska, already are seeing that.  But that’s another subject.

You’ve heard the saying that “If you don’t like the weather around here, wait five minutes and it will change.”  But it’s not just the weather that changes.  All things change.  All the time.  Sometimes we don’t want them to.  Sometimes we’re so happy with the way things are that we wish things could just stay that way forever.  Other times we can hardly wait for the change.  We’re so unhappy with the way things are that we think that any change would have to be better.  And of course, we have many times that are in between those feelings.  But really, how we feel about it does not make much difference.  Things are going to change, whether we want them to or not.

It’s the way God created the world, so we assume it must be what’s best.  And there certainly seems to be some logic to it.  I mean, unless you think we have a perfect world, we need to have things change.  That’s the only way things can get better.  There’s the risk that things will get worse, of course, but nobody ever moved forward without taking a risk.  And besides, life would be pretty boring after a while if nothing ever changed, don’t you think?

But of course, we all know that there’s one person who never changes.  Actually three persons.  God.  God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.  God does not change.  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  And in a world that always changes, that’s a pretty comforting thought.  At least it is to me.  I hope it is to you, too.

So if things are going well for you right now, be sure you take the time to enjoy them, because things are going to change.  And if things are not going well for you, hang in there and be patient, because things are going to change.  And through all the ups and downs of life, be sure to stay faithful and rely on the all-powerful, almighty, all-loving, never-changing God.