Everything Had Changed
For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?~Deuteronomy 4:7 ESV
Libby stared blankly out the window. She didn’t know what she was looking for, but only knew nothing was familiar. She had grown up in this once-small town, but moved away twenty years before. Now, as she drove through where she once called home, everything had changed.
The Old
Open fields had become subdivisions, the small town mechanic shop had been blown down, and a thirty-story hotel stood in its place. The local grocery store was a three-story shopping plaza. Live music poured from the upper balcony as people dined at a luxury rooftop restaurant.
Everywhere Libby looked, she saw a crowd and masses of towering new buildings. She was “home” for the first time in all those years to attend the funeral of a childhood friend. It was an unexpected loss compounded by the loss of the visual comforts of familiarity in her old hometown.
Libby was struck deeply by the reality of life being filled with constant and unplanned changes. In twenty years, her town had become unrecognizable, almost all her friends had married and moved away, her parents lived in a tropical retirement village, and her life had seen many alterations.
Tears trickled down her cheeks as she recounted the years of change, but not for the reasons expected. One thing stood out with resounding comfort as her mind journeyed through the memories. God never changed. He never moved or grew distant. He never faltered. Her tears showed gratitude for the constancy of Christ and His unchangeable stability. Libby had given her life to Christ as a child and had drawn closer to Him through each passing year.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.~Hebrews 13:8 ESV
Libby’s story touched my heart. I, too, have seen much change, navigated unexpected grief and loss, seen life shift, and felt knocked off balance by it all. Perhaps we all have. Times when nothing seemed familiar and everything had changed around us.
The New
For me, those moments have become a strengthening point in my relationship with God as His assurance and constancy hold fast. I can’t help but run gratefully toward Him with such gratitude that He remains the same. When the world seems like nothing stays the same, we can remember God’s perfect, unchanging love. What a gift to have His certainty to lean on in full assurance of faith.
“O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days—you whose years endure throughout all generations!” Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.~Psalm 102:24-27 ESV
Remember when everything changes, God never does.
Heavenly Father, sometimes life is jarring and wears me out with changes and uncertainty. Thank You for being the one I can always count on, trust, and lean on. Nothing is safer and more secure than You. I’m leaning fully and gratefully into you now. Amen
Genre: Non-fiction
Copyright 2025: Everything Had Changed: Kristi LaReee: All Rights Reserved
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