He Remains

These days I find myself extremely thankful that the Lord stays the same, but doesn't always stay in the same place. That He moves. He goes with us physically to new and far off places; and He goes with us spiritually through new seasons of life, while He remains the same God yesterday, today, and forever.

I feel like this is a subject I've written on before, and maybe I have... but it's a truth that I never want to be lost on any of us.

One of the things in life that I think can hurt us the most is when a person changes. I'm not talking about changes from a drug dealer to... well, not a drug dealer? I'm talking about the kind of changes that we would say are negative; like when we feel a person changes who they are or becomes a worse version of themselves. These changes burn us. They break our trust.

There's a number of reasons why people change. Maybe because of new places or people or circumstances. At least those are all the things I know have changed me, both negatively and positively. Being yourself can be a hard thing.

So I think that's why I'm so in awe of a God who has remained Himself for so long. I read about the God of the Old and New Testament, and I see the same God who is with me today. Through places across the world, people across the world, and circumstances across time, His character hasn't so much as flinched.

He remains the same.

He simply remains.

That's something I need help stamping on my heart. He remains.

He remains true, while also remaining present, wherever I go.

I move a lot. I move from home to school to home again to internships and repeat. Just a few days ago I moved back to Disney World for the summer. No matter how many times it happens or the amount of exciting opportunities each of these places holds, I still experience anxiety over it all. Change is intimidating for me, because I never know how it will change me.

But the one thing I've learned to depend on even more than my own self is the steadfast presence of a God who... guess what, never changes. I've not only read about this God who has shown Himself consistent, but I've experienced it as well.

I've experienced a good God, and I see His goodness consistent across time; therefore I trust that it remains.

I've experienced a merciful God, and I see His mercy consistent across time; therefore I trust that it remains.

I've experienced a graceful God, and I see His grace consistent across time; therefore I trust that it remains.

I've experienced a (trustworthy, present, faithful, insert all the characteristics) God, and I see those consistent across time; therefore I trust that it remains.

That He remains.

And I need that. In a world of constant change, I need a God in whom I can trust never to break that trust by changing Himself.

Not to say that God won't work in a myriad of ways. That He isn't wild. That the plans He has for us aren't absolutely crazy sometimes. That your relationship with Him won't grow and stretch and change.

All of those things can happen, yet the character of God... the core of who He is will always be the same.

I started this post with the intention of talking about a God who always moves with us... which is true. But I kept coming back to the idea of "remaining." They would seem to be opposites, but here they work together. God moves with us physically by remaining in us. He moves across time by remaining the same.

Okay, so I think I've used the same three words in this post more than an acceptable amount of times, but let this truth of who God is press in to your heart. Let it be something that transforms the way you see God and inspires you to live life with confidence and peace.

He remains, therefore let's remain in Him.

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." - Revelation 1:8

So I said: "Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations. In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end." - Psalm 102:24-27 (emphasis mine)