Change. It's never easy, is it?

Children grow up ... jobs end ... finances take a dip ... parents grow older ... people come and go.

How comforting it is to know that we indeed serve a God who never changes! What constant security that one piece of simple theology delivers into an otherwise unstable and vacillating life pattern!

As His dearly loved children, we can always depend upon His mercy, His lovingkindness and His strength to deliver us through any undesired or unanticipated change in life. His faithfulness is the solid stock upon which a human being is able to build a rock solid life.

And yet, still, things change.

One season of life quickly follows another ... doors open and close ... waves crash upon the shores of life ...  and people slip away.

It has been my observation that although we serve a God who never changes, He loves to stir up change! He loves to cause change in an otherwise stable and mundane life.

If God never changes, why then does He love change so much?  If God remains constant through every season in life, why then does He cause change to happen in our quickly moving existence?

I believe that there is one answer for this not so difficult conundrum and it is simply this: He wants us to trust Him and not to place our trust in wobbly circumstances or fleeting events.

He desires that we, as His precious children, place our entire trust and security in Him and in His character rather than in wavering people or in unpredictable relationships.

God desires that nothing this side of heaven will offer the comfort and the faithfulness that only God is able to deliver.

So, if you are struggling with change today, you might want to change your gaze from your circumstances to your Father.

If you have found yourself in the midst of seismic shift in your life, you might want to move your stuff from the sand to the Rock.

If the world that you have built seems to be imploding due to unanticipated change, I can guarantee you that God's got you. He is holding steady and He remains strong in the midst of your quake. He simply knows of no other way to be.

And, if the change that you are experiencing, is due to your mistakes or misjudgments in life, take heart knowing that, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself" (2 Tim. 2:13).

My advice to you today is this: Press on! Press on in spite of change and in spite of capricious circumstances. Don't be moved from a place of joy and hope although everything around you is moving and readjusting.

And while you walk through this season of change, you might just try singing a song or two along your unsettled way! If your mobile circumstances and fleeing relationships have left you without a song, you might just try singing this beloved hymn that thousands of pilgrims traveling through change have sung before you:

"Great Is Thy Faithfulness! Oh God, my Father!

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,

Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me!"

Carol McLeod is an author and popular speaker at women's conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. She has written five books, including No More Ordinary, Holy Estrogen!, The Rooms of a Woman's Heart and Defiant Joy! Her most recent book, Refined: Finding Joy in the Midst of the Fire, was released last August. Her teaching DVD The Rooms of a Woman's Heart won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award for excellence in religious programming. You can also listen to Carol's "A Jolt of Joy" program daily on the Charisma Podcast Network. Connect with Carol or inquire about her speaking to your group at justjoyministries.com.

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