March went out like a lion; savagely shredding bodies and lives with the Brussel’s airport blasts, then the Easter Sunday explosions in a park in Pakistan, an intentional targeting of Christians celebrating the resurrection.
Hundreds died. Hundreds more were seriously injured. All of us shaken by these senseless, irrational choices to kill children, their parents, friends and neighbors.
Our fears multiply.
We work to keep our anxiety suppressed, to pretend it doesn’t affect us, because for now it’s half a world away.
But underneath our confident exteriors fear is still there.
Psalm 90 begins, “Lord Thou has been our dwelling place in all generations…even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.”
Inspired by these words, Isaac Watts wrote this enduring hymn, “O God, Our Help In Ages Past,” which reminds us that our fears, though circumstantially different than his in ages past, are still the same.
We all fear the loss of life, health, freedom, peace and the unknown future. Though we bravely say as Christians that we do not fear death, when its threat comes near, our fears fly to the surface and force us to decide what we believe.
Cancer came to me five years ago. It was unexpected because who imagines that in her future? I was more confident than most because my family history is cancer free.
Like the terrorist’s bombs, cancer is a sudden blast to anyone who hears those words.
We do not know what tomorrow will bring.
But I do know Who will be there with me! I do know He has promised to never leave me or forsake me because as Watts wrote, “From everlasting Thou art God and endless years the same.”
The unbroken cord of three strands woven steadily through the fabric of time is Jesus, one with the Father and the Spirit, who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
These words have been of comfort to me through my roller coaster experiences in life.
In my menopause years when I felt crazy at times I reminded myself: He never changes.
When felt so alone as I waited in sterile, cold hospital rooms for the next procedure, for more results, I reminded myself He was with me, because He never changes.
When the next terrorist bomb explodes and my fears multiply with the frightening aftermath, I will remember, He never changes.
He is my only hope for the years to come.
He is my shelter from the stormy blast.
He is and will be my eternal home.
When the next storm shakes your life and world where will your hope be? I’m so grateful for the words of this hymn, which often plays as background music in my mind, reminding me of His enduring, unshakable, eternal presence.
He never changes!
