Yesterday, Today, and Forever

Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

            It goes by the word “nostalgia” – that sentimental longing for the past… a wistful affection directed toward a time gone by. It is usually accompanied by strong memories of people and the experiences we have shared with them. Holidays are a prime time for feelings of nostalgia. I found this out recently. I was home alone doing up some dishes while listening to some Christmas music on Pandora. The songs were mostly old standards of popular Christmas music that I grew up listening to in the sixties. For me this was a kind of “golden age” for Christmas. Christmas seemed simpler then. Maybe it’s just because I was a child and life was a whole lot simpler. So much of what I see and hear around me and in the world these days seems very tacky. Perhaps when I was a kid there were older folks who felt the same way about even earlier days. Anyway, I began to think about my childhood home and all of the blessings I had known there. The longer I listened the more I thought about those times, and the more I felt… well… nostalgic. I found myself over the kitchen sink with tears in my eyes. I was thinking about my dad and missing him… and about Joanne’s mom and dad and her/us missing them. I was thinking about family times at Christmas in days gone by. And they were fond memories. Memories can be good, but as time goes on, things change. Change is one of the natural laws of life, and accepting change gracefully – even with a warm embrace – is a valuable practice in our lives.

            Yet now and then the times come when we will cast our gaze on days gone by. When I talked with Joanne later about this experience, it was not from a “sad that I had to go through that” perspective. I felt happy to have had those moments, even though they brought some tears. There was a certain peace and joy about it. This kind of release of emotion can be beneficial. It wouldn’t be healthy for me to live in/for the past, but going to visit can be quite nice. It’s like I told Joanne in the years just after we got married: I enjoy going to visit your parents in Brooklyn… I enjoy visiting the city. But after a few days (of city life, not Joanne’s parents), I’ve got to get away. The old saying was true… “It’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” If you are a city person, please be gracious with me. It’s likely that you have the same feeling – in an opposite way – about the country or about small town life. We like what we’re used to, but we can’t always stay there.

            Anyway, nostalgia can only do so much for you. The past is good for us to remember and learn from, but it’s not a good place for a dwelling. Living in the past can be an escape and can keep us from a daily, abiding walk with the Lord that eagerly steps into each new day full of His mercies and pregnant with His unfolding purpose. Our God never changes… He is the God of the old as well as the new. Whenever you look “back”, I pray you will be able to trace His love and the unfolding of His plan. In your moment by moment experience of the present, I pray you will be confident of His steadfast presence leading you. And regarding the unknown future ahead, I pray you will not live in fear, but will be assured that the God of your past and present will be the same tomorrow.

Psalm 102:23-27 (NIV) ²³  In the course of my life he broke my strength; he cut short my days. ²⁴  So I said: "Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations. ²⁵  In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. ²⁶  They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. ²⁷  But you remain the same, and your years will never end.

Lamentations 3:22-26 (NIV) ²²  Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. ²³  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ²⁴  I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." ²⁵  The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; ²⁶  it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Malachi 3:6 (NIV)  "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

Hebrews 1:10-12 (NIV) ¹⁰  He also says, "In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. ¹¹  They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. ¹²  You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end."

James 1:17 (NIV)  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you that you are immutable… that you are the same today as you were a thousand years ago… a million years ago… for all eternity. This truth helps me know that I can trust you, and that your word is just as true now as when it was written. Thank you that, though everything around me and in my life is constantly changing, you do not. You are truly my rock and my refuge whatever comes my way in life. I hide in your unchanging love. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott