Tacos and change

In my house there is a deep divide over a fairly significant matter.  The split is over hard taco shells verses soft.

I love the crunch however others in my family don’t necessarily agree.  They will partake in the meal but inevitably criticism of the choice of hard over soft ensues immediately after the first bite when, without fail, the crispy tortilla shells crumbles under the pressure.

I put a lot of thought in building the perfect taco: cheese on the bottom, topped with warm meat, (so the cheese melts to ooey gooey goodness)  a layer of lettuce, tomato, more cheese, salsa and sour cream.  Oh I am getting hungry writing about it;).  It is perfect and then “crunch” the whole thing falls apart!

Life is often like that isn’t?  One day everything seems to be perfect, everything is on track and the next minute…not!

I was speaking with someone recently who shared with me a significant loss in their life.  The pain and emptiness they shared was palpable and my heart ached as they shared their sense of loneliness and lack of direction.  “I don’t know who I am without them.  One minute they were here and then they were gone” they said, “my whole life has changed in an instant.”

Change can be hard.  Change can be unsettling.

It happens all too often, and it happens to all of us in various degrees and sometimes it’s hard to catch up.  Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do when things seem to fall apart.

Where do we turn?

Who do we look too during these unsettling times?

The psalmist writes in Psalm 102:25-26

In the beginning, You [God] laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the works of Your hands. They will perish but You remain; they will 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 ever end.

In Malachi 3:6, God says this.  “I the Lord do not change."

The author to the Hebrew said, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)

The world around us may change but God does not. God is constant

God is the first and the last.

God is the beginning and the end.

God always has been.

God always will be.

God is holy.

God is perfect.

And God promises to never leave us and never forsake us in good times and bad.

God knows you by name. You are a child of the Living God… and that will never ever change!

It is comforting for me to know that when things around me are changing at an uncontrollable pace that God is in control, always has been, and always will be.

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

Genesis 28:15 (NIV)

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31 (NIV)

Grateful

This past weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving.  I pray, however you celebrated it, you were able to take some time to  reflect on God’s generosity with gratitude.

Our children, along with their spouses and our grandpups, gathered together for a meal on Sunday.  I was so convicted by my own preaching that I used our fine china!  It was wonderful and liberating and oh so pretty. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about check out last weeks sermon). It felt like a very long time since we gathered around a table together for a holiday meal.  It felt somehow different, it seemed more special to me, and not just because of the china ;).  I was grateful.

The passage of time is a funny thing, isn’t it?  It felt like such a long time since last gathering for a Thanksgiving meal and yet it feels like yesterday that I came to Amberlea.  I started my ministry with this very special church made up of extraordinary people ten years ago this coming weekend!  10 years!  And so much has happened in that time and yet, it still feels fresh and exciting to be there. I am grateful that God called me to this place.

I am also grateful to work alongside a Godly session, and for almost all of those 10 years with my dear friend, Nancy Varga, who shares my heart for families, community and Jesus.

Above alI, I am grateful that God is merciful, trustworthy, loving, holy and constant!

Over the past 4 Sundays we have been talking about the attributes of God, there are certainly more attributes than weeks in a year, so we will conclude the series this week. Please join us in person, Sunday mornings at 11am. It would be wonderful to see you!!  Or join us anytime, online!

I am so grateful for each of you!

God is....loving!

Nothing can separate

Even if I run away

Your love never fails

I know I still make mistakes

But, You have new mercies for me everyday

Your love never fails

You stay the same through the ages

Your love never changes

There maybe pain in the night

But joy comes in the morning

And when the oceans rage

I don't have to be afraid

Because I know that You love me

Your love never fails

The wind is strong and the water's deep

But I'm not alone here in these open seas

'Cause Your love never fails

—Lyrics to Your Love Never Fails by Jesus Culture

Those are lyrics to the worship song I was listening to today, and as I was croaking along I wondered… how would our lives be different if we really believed that?

What would happen in our lives if we lived in absolute assurance that God loves us, and God’s love never fails?

I was talking with someone not that long ago who was sharing a litany of things that had gone wrong in recent months.  She began to weep and said, “Why is God doing this? I grew up singing Jesus loves me, but after all I have been through, clearly God doesn’t love me!”

And honestly, I get it. I have faced heartbreaking situations where I knew God could step in and change everything in an instant. And when God didn’t? It hurt. Deeply.

But here is what God continues to teach me — I need to process my disappointments through the filter of God’s love, and not through the tangled places of my heart.  Because when I do the outcome is often, “If God loves me so much, why would God let this happen?”

Instead, when I process things through the filter of the absolute assurance of God’s love; a love that never changes and never fails, the outcome is very different. I realize I have to trust God in the midst of what is happening.  Harder still is repositioning my circumstance and look for God’s protection, provision and possible opportunities for growth.

How would things be different for you if you really lived in the absolute assurance of God’s love?

The promise is clear:

Isaiah 54:10a “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet [God’s] unfailing love for you will not be shaken.”

Isaiah 55:8-9, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” (NIV)

Psalm 138:8a: “The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.” (ESV)