Gracie Girl Blog

In my head there is this unwritten list of all the things that should not change in my life. Certain friendships, Christmas traditions, and so on. This past year, some things on that list did change. And I did not quite know what to do with myself.

What happens when you lose your best friend? What happens when a once safe small group just frustrates you now? What happens when things on the This Should NOT Change list, change?

Throughout this year of change I have learned that in every single situation, God shows up and says, “hey, I’m here for you and I don’t change.”

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

He’s just as loving as he was yesterday. Just as strong. Just as mighty. Just as caring. In a broken world, no one is really unchanging, but God is.

Time and time again God has proved to us He is unchanging, and that He is the only one who should be on our This Should NOT Change list. Hundreds of years ago he appeared to Moses and said this;

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 3:14

I AM. Not “I was” or “I will be” or “I might be if you do the right thing”.  I AM forgiving. I AM loving. I AM God. Thank you Lord that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that I could never change that, no matter how bad I mess up.

God doesn’t just remind us that He will not change, but that He can change everything else. Everything about our circumstances, everything that is hurting us, He can take our burdens away when we feel like they might never leave us.

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (Which means “God with us”).

Matthew 1:23

I have heard this verse a thousand times, but if you stop and think about it, it’s absolutely crazy. First of all, God is changing science; “The virgin will conceive.” And it happened, because here we are 2,000 years later celebrating it. Then the verse (which is a reference to a prophesy written hundreds of years before Mary and Joseph even existed), claims it will be a boy. No one had any way of knowing this before he was born, but Jesus was indeed a boy.

Finally, “they will call him Immanuel.” God with us. I do not know what “they” is referring to, but I do know that just as God was with them 2,000 years ago, he is with us today. Immanuel doesn’t mean “God is with us when life is easy” or “God was with them” or “God is with some people and not others.” No, God is with US. Today and everyday after, WITH US.

So what do we do when everything seems to change? And while God hasn’t changed, everything still feels chaotic?

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

he refreshes my soul.

Psalm 23:1-3a

In the Lord we lack NOTHING. Some translations say “I lack no good thing.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to lack any good thing. I want to know this God who I can always depend on, who will not change his goodness and love towards me. The one who makes me lie down in green pastures because He knows I need rest. The one who leads me beside quiet waters because He knows I can’t handle the rough waters right now. I want to know this God who refreshes my soul. 

What is your soul searching for this season? Is it a relationship with your Creator who will never change or leave you? Maybe you need a change, a mind boggling, science breaking change? A change that breaks chains you have come to believe are unbreakable?  Do you want to be a part of the “us” in “God with us” a little more? Find out what it really means to know a God named Immanuel? Do you want to find what wonderful words follow the name I AM?

Wherever you are today, I pray you open your heart to what the Lord can do. Through all the change in my life this year, how great it has been to get to know I AM better, to learn more about Immanuel and how He really IS with me though life gets crazy. Even though my best friend and I parted ways, even though my small group is frustrating, even though there is so much I can’t control, God remains. And God remains good.

But you, LORD, are a compassionate and gracious God,

slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Psalm 86:15