God our Rock, in an ever-changing existence ~ by Kristin

As a new parent, I am already astonished at how quickly kids grow. Every month, my daughters change. I never know when we do something, if it will be the last time. 

But as I approach 40, I’ve come to learn that everything in life is like that…..it comes, and it goes. This can be one of the great sorrows of life. It's all too easy to base our need for fulfillment and happiness on one or more of these fleeting things.

I’ll list a few below, and I’ll omit obvious categories like pleasure, wealth, and youth. Instead, I’d like to focus on the “good” things we are often encouraged to place at center. As good as these things are, they are still fleeting and insufficient as a foundation for life.

Community: it’s always in flux. We experience a change in our state in life, like marriage or parenthood, and suddenly the old friend group doesn’t make sense. We get a new opportunity and move. We grow older and leave the community of our birth. 

Education: no matter how much we try to learn, there is always more to learn. Research quickly becomes outdated. We develop expertise in a field, but it's only as good as today. Tomorrow will be a new day, with new discoveries and news.

Achievement: someone is always better than us, and everyone inevitably retires. A famous violinist once quipped that if they don’t practice for one day, they notice. If they don’t practice for two days, their teacher notices. If not for three, then the audience notices. In our craft or career, we never “get there.”

Family: Kids grow up and go. Spouses eventually pass away. The relationship of newlyweds is different from marriage with young children, and from life with older children, and from empty-nesting. In our closest relationships, there is a sense in which we never step in the same stream twice. Even though the love remains and grows (hopefully), it takes on a new forms and dimensions. 

All of this flux stands in contrast to God’s unfailing love and relationship with us. He must be the center around which everything else revolves. In other words, today is a good day because God is good to me. Today, I feel secure and anchored because I trust in God's care and plan for my life. Today, I feel loved because I know God loves me. Today, I feel satisfied because I have spent time with God, who is always there and always satisfies.

God created us for all of it: for a relationship with Him, and also for family, community, education, etc. It's just that those things can't be our existential rock. They can't be what gives us definitive fulfillment and meaning. Only God can carry the weight of our ultimate expectations and needs. Only He is perfect, unchanging, unlimited in His ability to nurture us, and understanding of the purpose for our lives....which He gradually reveals to us, day by day. 

As we trust God with the ongoing flow and flux of life, which He intends for our growth, we can find a sense of permanence in an ever-evolving existence. As we trust in His promises of eternal and definitive joy, we can look forward to a time of finally landing on our feet and savoring the ultimate fulfillment of our potential and relationships in Heaven.