My life changed many years ago at the age of 14. As far as I can remember I have always believed in God. His existence was never in doubt, although perhaps I perceived him as distant and too occupied with bigger things to really be interested in me as a person.
I enjoyed going to church on Sundays and singing my heart out in the choir. This is what was done, go to church on Sundays but it was done in a religious manner, I had not yet had a life changing encounter with God.
This all changed when a Christian speaker was invited to talk at Christian Unity week and shared the gospel as written in the Bible. My word! the very idea that I was a sinner who needed to be rescued by God, that God loved me enough to send his Son to die for me and rise again, was totally foreign to me.
I was amazed to discover that God loved me, that I couldn’t do anything to repay him for his wonderful gift of new life in him. This verse in John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life, became so real to me.
As the eldest of four siblings, I loved the solace of reading and enjoyed the simplicity of life as a child, but of course life does not remain simple. Life is dynamic and ever-changing. Some changes are good, some not so good, some inevitable and some happen out of bad choices one makes. Relationships end or fizzle out, even friendships that you thought would last a life time, swept away like the debris.
There are ups and downs. This is life. A journey with mountains and valleys and seasons therein. I am sure most people can identify with this. Life is changeable. Even the things we love change, my son is no longer a baby and those teenage years are approaching fast!
Going back to my encounter with God, all those years ago, I cannot say that my life has been perfect or trouble-free. God does not promise to give us a pain free life. He does not say you will be walking on air. Life is no bed of roses BUT he does promise to be with us.
There is nothing that God cannot do, he is all powerful, Almighty and if we are to go through hardship, heartache, he promises to be with us, as we journey through whatever situation we may be facing.
We are not alone, and not only are we not alone but we have the one person that cannot change with us…God. In the book of Hebrews 13:8 we read, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever, this verse has seen me through the most difficult of times.
The fact that he is unchangeable has carried me through the ups and downs of life. He is my anchor, my Rock, my refuge. There will be instability and uncertainty in the days and years ahead, but one thing that I can be sure of and can depend on is the certainty that Jesus Christ never fails, he will always be, and has always been, the same, yesterday, today and forever.