Bible Readings
In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 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. But you remain the same, and your years will never end. (Psalm 102: 25-27)
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8)
Thought
Often when I am out walking a song will pop into my head and once it is there it can be quite difficult to get rid of it. I believe it becomes what people call an ear worm, something that goes round and round your head. Recently the song that I have found myself singing is from my childhood, the words of which say “Glad that I live am I; that the sky is blue; glad for the country lanes and the fall of dew. After the sun the rain, after the rain the sun; this is the way of life, till the work be done.” It is no great surprise that this might pop into my head as we are often to be found walking along country lanes near our home. But it is the reference to the weather that I have been thinking about.
For the first time since lockdown began, back in March, we had visitors come into the house over the weekend, my younger brother and his husband came down to see us. If you are like me then you plan what you might want to do while your visitors are with you. So much of my planning was dependent on the weather. Being outside is considered much safer than being indoors at present and as we all enjoy walking I had planned on us going for a long walk ending up somewhere where we could eat outside. For days leading up to their visit I watched the weather forecast, checking to see if it would remain dry and warm enough for us to eat outside. Even the day before it wasn’t clear if the forecasted rain would arrive on Saturday evening or overnight. As it happened the weather, although rather cloudy, remained fine, we had a lovely walk and something nice to eat.
Thankfully God is nothing like the weather. He does not keep changing, he is completely reliable. We can trust in him entirely. His love for us is unconditional. We do not have to hope that God is having a good day. With the psalmist we can say with confidence that God remains the same and his years will never end.
Prayer
Faithful and unchanging God. We rejoice in the knowledge that you love us unconditionally and that unlike the weather we can rely on you completely. Help us to trust you more and worry less.
Amen
Song
Faithful One So Unchanging