Accepting change through God's consistency

All in all this has been a good winter. The cold has not been as cold as it could. The old men sitting around drinking coffee and talking about the weather cannot seem to decide if they miss the snow this winter or they are glad they missed the snow this winter. Still, there were more days stuck inside than anyone would care to admit. There is hope; spring is coming. We will soon turn the clocks back, the sweaters will be packed up and this most recent winter will be a memory. The close of one season and the beginning of another serve as reminders that change is always about us.

In the Bible, Leviticus 3:22--23 tells us that God, whose character is to never change, is always making things new. It reads, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." This particular passage shapes some ways in which we look at change.

Change is constant. The rare enjoy that chaos. It seems the older one gets, the less they enjoy change. In my town, we have men who have been driving the same new pickup for the past 30 years.

The Bible tells us our constant change is sheltered by steadfast love that never ceases and mercies that never come to an end.

Change is always upon the horizon. Every morning when the sun makes its glorious appearance, it looks different from the day before. It is the same sun, the same window peered through, sipping from the same coffee mug, but the sunrise looks different every day. Just as the sun is constant, God does not change, though everything surrounding looks different.

We each have a choice in the way we respond to the new day. I know a man who, in his spirit, has determined there are no new days. Each day is the same day, the same problems, the same disappointments. He carries grudges and hurts from things someone said to him 20 years ago and longer, speaking of those instances as if they occurred yesterday. He refuses to see new mercies. Each day is the same day.

God's consistency allows us to accept change. He is new every day, though he never changes his love or mercies.