David Berg

By David Berg

It's good for us to have changes, because it drives us closer to the Lord. I've often said that one thing I've been thankful for in my life has been constant change. When I don't have change, I feel I must create it myself in my work habits, my living quarters, my schedule, etc.

You've heard that old slogan, "All things change, but Jesus never."

Change and decay in all around I see,
Oh, Thou who changest not, abide with me.--Henry Lyte, 1847

Everything changes except the Lord, so you really learn to trust the Lord. He's the only thing that remains constant.

I've read so many times how psychologists and psychiatrists say that you shouldn't move your children around too much, that it's apt to create trauma, uncertainty, and insecurity. I'll grant you that kids in families that don't have the Lord get to where they're overly attached to things and their homes and their friends. They're used to their school or habits, and they rely on those things. They lean on them and trust in them, and to suddenly be swept away some place far away causes them severe culture shock.

When businessmen, teachers, or students go to foreign countries to work or study, some of them absolutely flunk out because they've been used to having the same thing all their lives--the same language, the same place to live. All of a sudden they can't rely on those things anymore.

Some people don't want to have to make decisions; they want the same routine every day. It gives them a feeling of security that those things that they're attached to will always be there and their life will always be the same. But then if a disruption comes along, they're blown apart; they fall apart.

We can take changes like that because we have an Anchor that holds us steadfast and sure. We have a Rock that is always solid that we can always trust. So in some ways our lives are much the same every day because we trust the Lord every day. We have that Rock, that Anchor that keeps us safe and secure all the time, no matter what the waves are like, the constantly changing sea of life.

We have someone in whom we can rest reassured, eternally secure, knowing that we don't have anything to worry about. He's going to solve every problem and always meet the need, whatever it is, and keep us safely wherever we are, whatever we're doing.

We have that Anchor. We have that Rock to hold on to. Our faith. The Lord. So it hardly matters what happens around us on the constantly changing sea of life; it doesn't bother us that much. We can survive it and surmount it and we can live on. We know we've lived through past changes and we can live through these, because the Lord is without change.

So hold on to the Lord! "I am the Lord, I change not. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8). Praise the Lord! He remains the same--faithful, always trustworthy, always there, always answering every need. So we have that feeling of constant security that surmounts anything else in life. But for people who don't have the Lord, it doesn't matter how secure a life they appear to lead, nothing is absolutely secure. They have no foundation, nothing to hang on to. Nothing for an anchor, nothing for a solid rock for a foundation.

For us, no matter what happens or where we go or where we live or what the conditions may be, the Lord's still there and He'll always keep us, no matter what. So we have a wonderful feeling of security that unbelievers don't have at all, no matter how long they live in the same place and do the same things and go to the same school and have the same house and the same pets and the same friends. They're in the most precarious position of all, because their feeling of security is a false sense of security which can be interrupted at any moment and fall apart when even one of those things on which they rely changes.

We have constant, complete security all the time. "I've learned to be content in whatsoever state I'm in" (Philippians 4:11). My mother used to remind us of that time and again when we kids would complain about having to leave school or get to school late in the year, or moving and being on the road. That was one of her favorite verses to put down all complaint: "I've learned to be content in whatsoever state I'm in." It's a wonderful thing to learn to be content. Then you don't complain and you don't bellyache.

That's the wonderful thing about trusting the Lord. When you don't know what's going to happen, you know the Lord's going to somehow work everything out just the way He wants it. He always does. He never fails! Praise the Lord!

Though the angry surges roll
O'er your tempest-driven soul,
You'll be peaceful for you'll know,
Wildly though the winds may blow.
You've an anchor safe and sure,
That shall evermore endure.
Oh, your anchor holds.
Blow your wildest, then, O gale.
On our bark so small and frail,
Praise God, we'll never fail,
For our anchor holds, our anchor holds.
Mighty tides about me sweep,
Perils lurk within the deep,
Angry clouds o'er-shade the sky,
And the tempest rises high;
Still I stand the tempest's shock
For I'm anchored to the rock.
And it holds, my anchor holds.
Blow your wildest, then, O gale.
Though my bark is small and frail,
Praise God, I shall not fail,For my anchor holds, my anchor holds.--William Martin, 1902