Always the Same

READ: PSALM 102:25-28; HEBREWS 13:5-8

It can be comforting to have something in your life that always stays the same. You might have dinner with your grandparents every weekend, or you might have a pet who meets you at the door every day when you get home from school. No matter what goes on in your life or what causes you stress, knowing that one part of your life is going to be the same no matter what can be comforting.

During 2020, when the world seemed to be falling apart, I remember being comforted by the sound of a train. I live close to train tracks, and while some people would find that annoying, I find it comforting. Every evening, I hear at least one train. I hear the trains now, and I heard them all through the time when the world seemed to shut down and many were staying home from work.

Hearing the trains every evening also reminds me that God does not change. His love for us does not change. No matter what goes on in our lives and how scary things might get, He stays the same. Like the trains that kept going all through 2020, 2021, 2022, and now 2023, God keeps being there for us and helping us. Nothing can shake Him or stop Him. We can trust Him to stay the same. • Emily Acker

• Especially when our lives feel out of control, how can it be comforting to know that God does not change? God is so generous, and He reveals His unchanging love for us in so many ways. But the ultimate revelation of His never-failing love is in Jesus’s death and resurrection. Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we can rest knowing that we are close to God, always. And because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), we can depend on Him each and every day. Consider taking a moment to talk to God about anything in your life that feels unsettled. You can find rest in His sure love for you.

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)