Last week we considered the dilemma we cannot ignore—the existence of God. Most of us would readily admit the existence of God. And yet, having made that admission, we still can be in the dark about Who He is, and what He is like.
This past week it was brought to my attention that shortly after the New Year, Parke Kunkle, an astronomer at the Minneapolis Planetarium Society, announced that the earth’s orbital “wobble” has changed the placement (according to our perspective) of the major constellations in the sky!
This announcement has thrown the horde of horoscope hopefuls into disarray by even turning some Gemini into Tauruses!
To make matters worse, shortly after this discovery, astrologers added another sign, Ophiuchus, to the Signs of the Zodiac!
This disorientation is just one example of the axiom: Change is inevitable. Change is constant. And we must ask ourselves, “Where does this constant changing leave us?” Maybe this provides us with the basis of why in modern society there is an increasing need for people to connect with “something” beyond ourselves— something (or someone) that is more stable than us and who does not change.
The Holy Scriptures would have us consider two complementary passages. The first is straightforward: “For I, Yahweh, change not.” (Mal 3:6)
The second is from Psalm 46: “Yahweh of hosts is with us … God is our refuge and strength. … Therefore we will not fear, though the earth changes, And though the mountains be shaken into the heart of the seas.” (Psa. 46:2).
So we are left with this anchor in our undulating and “topsy-turvy” search for stability and the “Stable One,” even when our world (or our perspective within our world) changes and we are left with bewilderment, confusion and even fear.
There is One who is in charge. The One who does not change. This One is more stable than the earth, whose mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas (even producing their tsunamis). This One is more stable than the earth “in its wobbling.”
Maybe this is why Christians can remain stable when the entire world is falling down even around them. They constantly recall that the one in whom they trust is the very One Whose name is “Immanuel” that is, “God with us” (Mat 1:23) and Whose promise to those who carry His name is, “Behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. (Mat 28:20).
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s s contributor is Rev. Dennis Schutte, Pastor of Life In Christ Lutheran Church
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