Finding Stability As We Enter Certain Instability This Fall

As August ushers in the fall of 2020, I am amazed at how much our lives have changed, and how differently we think about our daily activities. For the most part, Dennis and I are still staying at home. No dinners at restaurants. No movies. No weekend soccer tournaments. No trips other than visiting family …  and then we travel by car, not by plane. No church in-person. We work at home, conduct meetings online, and rarely visit the office. 

The losses are many but there have been gains. One highlight is we love seeing our nearest neighbors who have become really good friends via driveway conversations and socially distanced walks. God is good!

Overall we’ve adjusted well, but as I look at our country, it doesn’t surprise me that many people are feeling a level of uncertainty and instability like never before.  

Troubling questions aren’t going away:

Will the spread of Covid-19 go totally out of control?  Will a safe vaccine actually work?

Will it be safe to open schools? Will students be safe?

What will happen with the nation’s economy? Will everything slow down again the way it did in March and April?  Can we afford to do that?

In any year, the Covid-19 pandemic alone would be life changing. But this is 2020, a presidential election year that promises contention coupled with unresolved racial tension that needs the wisdom of Solomon.

Is there any wonder we are feeling anxious and fearful about the months ahead?

I remember clearly the anxiety I felt during the 2008 economic crash in America and the relief I felt the day I came across Isaiah 33:6. These nine words appeared for me like the calm blue-sky center of a giant hurricane:

“And He shall be the stability of your times.”

I realized then and it’s still true today: There is so much I cannot change. So very little is in my control. 

And so the Anchor of my soul must be my sure hope, my source of stability, not the predictable way of life I long to cherish over the Rock of Christ. Hebrews 6:19 tells us, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul … connecting us with God Himself.” The eternal truth that God is sovereign is either true or it is not. I’m counting on its veracity because He brings more peace than any judicial ruling, peace agreement, vaccine or election possibly could.

The Bible speaks of hard times ahead. It seems to me that those hard times are now … today … all of this year. Jesus told us at “the end of the age,” whether that is just around the corner or decades away, life will become harder not easier. Whether this present turmoil and instability is our new normal or not is really irrelevant. What really matters is where I’m placing my hope. 

Only Jesus can give the peace and the stability I desire.  Only He can give what we long for in our hearts.

During the next couple months I’ll be writing on this theme several times as I seek to find and strengthen my own stability in Christ. I pray you will join me in growing deeper roots into the only One who can make us safe. And I hope you will consider inviting others to join us here. Ever Thine Home is a place to grow in faith and to be encouraged to trust Him in all circumstances. I want to experience God every day in my life and in my home. I think you do too.

I just texted with a friend this week who asked how she could get back on my mailing list because she somehow got dropped and missed getting weekly words of encouragement. It reminded me how easily these technical glitches happen and how important it is to share with others. 

We need each other. We were made for a family, His family, to live so our lives proclaim His truth, His stability to those around us. Many who don’t know Jesus are watching, longing to see real faith, real security in these very unstable days. 

Whether the promised Covid-19 vaccines fail or succeed or something wholly unexpected happens next like a long-predicted earthquake in one of many world-wide fault zones, one thing is certain: the Rock of Ages is the stability of our times. And He never changes! As Hebrews 13:8 says, 

“He is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

He is the Ruler over all, seated on His throne! 

“Nothing is too hard for You” (Jeremiah 32:17).

Knowing His words of truth gives me security and stability.

I pray we make this transcendent truth of God and His Word more a part of our conversations that others may also have this hope. 

He is risen just as he said! (Matthew 28:6)