DO 2587 12/88

—Changes Help Us Trust the Lord!

1. It's good for us to have a lot of changes because it really drives us closer to the Lord! I've often said that one thing I've been thankful for in my life has been constant change!—And when I don't have change I feel I must create it myself in my work habits‚ my living quarters, my schedule etc.

2. You've learned that old slogan‚ "All things change but Jesus never. Change & decay in all around I see, Oh Thou Who changest not, abide with me!" I learned, even as these kids are learning, that things are constantly changing! Everything changes except the Lord, so you really learn to trust the Lord! He's the only thing that remains constant!

3. I've read so many times how the psychologists & psychiatrists say that you shouldn't move your children around too much, it's apt to create trauma, uncertainty & insecurity. Do you kids feel secure? (Kids: Yes!) Why? (Kids: Because we have Jesus!) That's right, you have the Lord! I'll grant you that kids in families that don't have the Lord get to where they're overly attached to things & their homes & their friends. In other words, they really worship those things, those things are their gods & they serve them. They're used to their school or habits & they rely on those things, they really lean on them & trust in them, & to suddenly be swept away some place far away causes them severe culture shock!

4. I don't think any of us have suffered from any kind of culture shock! We might have received a few shocks on occasion‚ but we haven't gone through any great big trauma like the System psychologists warn of. When American businessmen, teachers or students go to foreign countries to work or study, many of them absolutely flunk out!—Because they've been used to having the same thing all their lives—the same language, the same place to live, everything! And all of a sudden—boom—they can't rely on those things any more, they can't rest on them any more, they can't just rock along as usual!

5. My father-in-law said, "I don't understand how you guys survive the kind of a life you live with different changes & decisions every day. I don't ever have to make a decision, I just do the same thing every day."—Ha! What a dull‚ monotonous life that would be to never have to make a decision & to just do the same old thing every day! But some people love that kind of a life, they don't want to have to make decisions, they just want the same routine every day. It gives them a feeling of security that those things that they're attached to will always be there & their life will always be the same. But then if a disruption comes along, they're just blown apart, they fall apart!

6. We can take changes like that because we have an Anchor that holds us steadfast & sure! We have a Rock that is always solid that we can always trust! So in some ways our lives are much the same every day because we trust the Lord every day! We have that Rock, we have that Anchor that keeps us safe & secure all the time, no matter what the waves are like‚ the constantly changing sea & constantly changing life we live.

7. We have Someone in Whom we can rest reassured, eternally secure‚ knowing that we don't have anything to even worry about! He's going to solve every problem & always meet the need, whatever it is, & keep us safely wherever we are, whatever we're doing!

8. We have that Anchor! We have that Rock to hold on to!—Our faith!—The Lord! So it hardly matters what happens around us on the constantly changing sea of life, it doesn't bother us that much. We can survive it & surmount it & we can live on! We know we've lived through past changes & we can live through these‚ because the Lord is without change!

9. So hold on to the Lord! "I am the Lord, I change not! Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever!"—Mal.3:6; Heb.13:8. Praise the Lord! He remains the same—faithful, always trustworthy‚ always there, always solving every problem, answering every need! So we have that feeling of constant security that surmounts anything else in life! But for people who don't have the Lord, it doesn't matter how secure a life they appear to lead, nothing is secure & frequently it all blows up!

10. The psychiatrists & psychologists say, "Oh my! You mustn't move your children around! Especially during their school years, you must keep them in the same school & a stable home atmosphere or they'll get a feeling of insecurity which might upset them psychologically, blah blah!" The Flatlanders have no security! They trust in those things, those places, those people‚ that house‚ that school for their security, & if anything goes awry, then they just fall apart! They have no foundation‚ nothing to hang on to, nothing for an anchor, nothing for a solid rock for a foundation!

11. But for us, no matter what happens or where we go or where we live or what the conditions may be, the Lord's still there & He'll always keep us no matter what! So we have a wonderful feeling of security that they don't have at all, no matter how long they live in the same place & do the same things & go to the same school & have the same house & the same pets & the same friends & blah blah blah! They're in the most precarious position of all because their feeling of security is a false sense of security which can be interrupted at any moment & fall apart when even one of those things on which they rely changes.

12. But we have constant complete security all the time! "I've learned to be content in whatsoever state I'm in."—Phil.4:11. My Mother used to remind us of that time & again when we kids would complain about having to leave school or get to school late in the year or moving & being on the road, all kinds of things. That was one of her favourite verses to put down all complaint: "I've learned to be content in whatsoever state I'm in!" It's a wonderful thing to learn to be content!—Then you don't murmur, you don't complain & you don't bellyache!

13. That's the wonderful thing about trusting the Lord!—When you don't know what's going to happen, you just know the Lord's going to somehow work everything out just the way He wants it. He always does! He never fails! PTL!

Tho' the angry surges roll

O'er your tempest-driven soul,

You'll be peaceful for you'll know,

Wildly tho' the winds may blow!

You've an anchor safe & sure,

That shall evermore endure!

Oh, your anchor holds!

Blow your wildest, then, O gale!

On our bark so small & frail‚

Praise God, we'll never fail,

For our anchor holds, our anchor holds!

Mighty tides about me sweep,

Perils lurk within the deep,

Angry clouds o'er-shade the sky,

And the tempest rises high;

Still I stand the tempest's shock

For I'm anchored to the Rock!

And it holds, my anchor holds!

Blow your wildest, then‚ O gale!

Though my bark is small & frail,

Praise God, I shall not fail,

For my anchor holds, my anchor holds!

(—From "Dad's Favourite Songs of Comfort‚" GN 366.)

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