Anchored even in the ups and downs…

This day scrambled my thoughts. Family members arrive back from a holiday not knowing if recent storms and flash floods damaged their home. Last month fires threatened many areas. This time it is floods. Where I live, the weather changes so much that making outdoor plans is tentative at best.

As I read about the areas that were hit with extreme weather, another family member called to let us know her sister’s hubby had another stroke. Life changes in a moment.

In the larger world, a big nation attacks a small country again, this time the most severe effort in this ongoing battle. To the south, leadership decisions flip and flop and who knows what will happen next. 

But then there is God who managed to make my ‘verse for the day” be truly a verse for today:
“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed."  (Malachi 3:6)

Life is up/down, black/white, sane/crazy, normal/abnormal, but God remains the same. I did a word search in the NT for “same” and found these comforts…

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. . . . But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7; 24–25)

This God who is the same can take diversity in His people and composes everyone into a body that has the same goals and works in the same power. His Holy Spirit is our sameness, even as we are gifted differently and are not the same in other ways. Only God. 

His goal is that we become like Him, transformed into the same image as we gaze upon His glory:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Spending time with others who love Jesus, He encourages us when we share the same ideas and same goals. These are also from the One who never changes…

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. (Philippians 2:1–2)

Not only does our God remain the same, He encourages His people to be like Him in the way we related to one another. These truths are like an anchor, a shelter, a fortress even, in a world where change happens so rapidly that it makes me dizzy.

And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” (Hebrews 1:10–12)

PRAY: In a day when I feel more scattered than usual, You give me a stable word for how I can think and act based on You, the One who is never scattered or fragmented by what You see in this messy place. You tell me: “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6) and for that, I am settled and calmed. Take my hand and keep me moving forward in knowing You are not like the world and You are definitely not the author of confusion but of peace  (1 Corinthians 14:33). Thank You for being my stability and peace.

The greatest Encouragement . . .

 

Out of the many ways that people can encourage one another, what does it best for me is seeing and hearing how God is at work or hearing His promises to do something in the future. Both take my eyes off the present situation to either remember His power and/or look forward to it. For me, human promises, speculations, and words like “it will be okay” do not do it. They are anchored in mere human hope that has no sure foundation. Learning this takes a long time and a few painful experiences.

ENCOURAGE has many meanings. It can be persuasion that earnestly supports a response or action; or consolation and comfort in times of disappointment; or anything that gives relief in affliction. When tied to God as the source, I am greatly encouraged when He gives me direction whenever I feel confused or distressed, as well as simply offering spiritual truth when I need it. He might use people or other books for this, but most of His encouragement comes from the Bible and from answered prayer.

Encouragement from the Word of God is expressed in many verses. Here are a few that declare this truth:

(Psalm 119:49–50) Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.

(Romans 15:4) For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

(1 Corinthians 14:31) For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged.

(1 Thessalonians 4:18) Therefore encourage one another with these words.

What are those words if not His promises! When God says something will happen, it always has and always will. For me, this is an anchor, a great encouragement . . .

(Hebrews 6:17–20) So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath (solemn promise), so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf . . .  

Encouragement from answered prayer also has many examples in Scripture. Here are some of the prayers:

(Romans 15:5–6) May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(Philippians 2:1–2) So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

I was not in Rome or Philippi to see the answers to these prayers but I do see them in the Body of Christ where we worship. The harmony is outstanding. One example is our business meetings, even those discussing finances; they are short and without any conflict at all. The unified focus is on the needs of others, not personal ‘I wants’ or issues that divide. Our pastors often praise God for this unity with the words, “Only God, only God!”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. God is the ultimate encourager. He has at least two reasons in mind for the comfort He gives. One is so I will pass it on to others using the same comfort He gives me: telling them what the Bible says . . .  

(2 Corinthians 1:3–4) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

The other reason is that I will be established (determined and strengthened) to do good and speak messages of hope and comfort rather than doom and gloom, that is, I will share how God answers my prayers.

(2 Thessalonians 2:16–17) Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

(Psalm 107:2) Let the redeemed of the Lord say so . . . !