Thought for Today
Numbers 23:19 God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind. Has he promised, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Psalm 46:2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
Matthew 18:3 "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
James 1:17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
I wrote yesterday, “For something to be new, a change must have occurred. Those of us ‘of an age,’ do not like for anything to change. Sadly, the world does not take much note or concern with our dislike for change.” I also noted, “All progress necessitates change, not all change is progress.” Both statements are eternally true. However, there is also the eternal truth of the hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness. Our world changes; our God is immutable, eternal and eternally unchanging.
I thought about this as I listened this morning to news reports about the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) announcing that our current situation will require a 10% reduction in the number of allowable daily airplane flights. This reduction will be necessitated as we approach the most congested time of the year for air travel. The news reports are being given with a degree of anxiety suggesting the imminent end of life on our planet as we now know it.
Whenever I think about travel, its speed, availability and the ubiquitous place all of that has taken in our society, I inevitably think about my maternal grandfather, Pop. Pop was born in 1883; he died in 1969. For reference, the US Census Bureau declared the closing of the frontier in 1890. The transcontinental railroad was completed May 10, 1869 when the Central Pacific RR met the Union Pacific RR at Promontory Summit, Utah. The first human walked on the moon on July 20, 1969 when Apollo 11 landed and Neil Armstrong stepped out on the surface. My grandfather’s life spanned from the closing of the frontier, the completion of the transcontinental railroad to manned spacecraft landing on the moon.
Were Pop still alive, I suspect had he heard about the 10% reduction of flights this morning, he would have been vastly unimpressed. He might well have noted that the sun came up in the east this morning. When it did so, God had already turned on the air. Countless people will head off to work today, some in cars, some on foot, some on bicycles, some on subways, etc. Slightly fewer on airplanes.
Life does change. Railroads to moon landings; oil lamps to incandescent lights to halogen to . . . ! In my youth, folks wrote letters or postcards to far away relatives. In emergencies, they might even ask the operator (?!?) to dial long distance. Broadcast news came via the console radio in the living room. Television had been invented . . . but almost no one owned one. Telephones came in any color, as long as you liked black . . . and they had rotary dials. Only Dick Tracey had a communication device on his wrist.
I may not like change; I do not like change; I honestly believe much of what we now see is what I think of as “Just because we can” technology. All of my proclivities aside, however, I am writing on my laptop, sending these Thoughts via email and social media. Yes, I not only have a smartphone, I actually use one. Admittedly, I mostly use mine for phone calls and texting.
Change is inevitable. Thankfully, as a Christian, I do know all about the one, unchanging, absolute and reliable thing in all of Creation, our Creator God. People come and go; nations and empires rise and fall; technologies develop and then are superseded. The God of Genesis chapters 1-3, the One who “2:7 formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being” is the same God to whom I pray each day. “Therefore” I “will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea.” My life is anchored in and on the Creator of Creation, the God who made, makes and fulfills covenants. I know that God sent Jesus, the Christ, for my salvation and the salvation of Creation. James was right!
Stay safe, believe the One who is unchanging and faithful, trust God,
Pastor Ray