nothing new here…

“Mom, I think I’m gonna throw up…  Mom… Mom!”

These were the words I heard from my Isaac yesterday afternoon, just after we got home.

And he did.

Ick.

As I wiped his mouth, I thought to myself, “Well, this changes everything!”  I knew, if this was a stomach bug, that we’d fall like dominos – and one by one we’d all get it.  All of our weekend plans would be ruined.  And that was a bummer.

But then I remembered…

Not long ago, upon receiving very distressing news I had a similar thought.  It was the kind of information that altered every thought I managed to have, and mocked every normal sensibility I had formerly known.   I couldn’t form any thoughts without raw emotion and fear taking over.

Standing in the kitchen, as I cried out to my Heavenly Father in desperation, I had that same thought  : “This changes everything!”

And do you know what He said to me?

“No, my sweet daughter.  Nothing has changed, nothing that truly matters.”

In that brief moment, my perspective was adjusted.  Circumstances may have been altered – but, His plan for me, the path He created for my life is exactly the same as it was when time began.   I have new information now, and it makes my path feel different.    However, He is unchanging.   The important facts remain:  He is still in control, He is still the Risen Lord, He is still my Loving Father, He is still the Healer,  He is still my Redeemer and He is still with me and present on my daily journey.

Whether it is big or small, unexpected life events can alter my outlook. That is true.  But, when those moments move my focal point to more of Him and less of earthly distractions, I come to realize that those events can not change this Sure Foundation I have or His will.

God’s Word, Jeremiah 29:11-13:

¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Praise the Lord!  When life seems to be unstable, He is unchanging and His plan is secure!

amen.

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I lead this hymn last Sunday at church, and it is very significant to me today:

1. My hope is built on nothing less
   Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
   I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
   But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
   • Refrain:
     On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
     All other ground is sinking sand,
     All other ground is sinking sand.
2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
   I rest on His unchanging grace;
   In every high and stormy gale,
   My anchor holds within the veil.
3. His oath, His covenant, His blood
   Support me in the whelming flood;
   When all around my soul gives way,
   He then is all my hope and stay.
4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,
   Oh, may I then in Him be found;
   Dressed in His righteousness alone,
   Faultless to stand before the throne.