On the Day When Everything Changes, Remember What Hasn’t
By Michael Kelley
Your whole life can change in the blink of an eye. One phone call, one interaction, one decision (even if that decision is made by someone else) can change everything. You wake up and your world is one way, and then when you go to sleep, everything is different. That day - and specifically, that moment in the day - becomes a marker for you.
There was the way things were before… and the way things were after.
That can be a troubling thought, can’t it? Especially since today very well could be the day when everything changes… you just don’t know. So how do you deal with this reality? How do you cope with knowing that every single day you are just one phone call, one interaction, or one decision from your life changing forever? Perhaps one way is by remembering…
On the day when everything changes, you can remember what hasn’t.
Once upon a time, I thought I had an iron stomach until I found myself on a small boat in the middle of a big ocean on a deep-sea fishing excursion. And though the trip out into the bay started out fine, it only took about an hour until I was chumming the fish over the side of the boat with everything in my guts. And then the seasoned fisherman who was with me told me to pick out a fixed point on the horizon – in this case, it happened to be an oil derrick, and fix my eyes there. Slowly, my stomach went right side up even in the middle of instability.
See, my seasickness wasn’t the result of a queasy stomach; it was the result of my equilibrium which is not a tummy issue, but an ear issue. You might say my true problem was actually between my ears.
Or to put it another way - when everything around me was in motion, I needed to fix my eyes on something that wasn’t.
When you embrace the reality that despite how much we try and protect ourselves we are still just a moment away from everything falling apart, we can start to lose our equilibrium very quickly. It can feel like everything is in motion around us and we find ourselves filled with the anxiety that comes from a lack of stability.
But there is also an equally powerful reality - no matter if that phone call comes today or not, there are some things that will never change:
The gospel is still true.
Jesus is still Lord of heaven and earth.
As His children, we are eternally safe.
God has proven His love for us at the cross.
These things are true, and they are true no matter what else goes topsy-turvy. These are the things that never change even with everything else does. So how do you deal with the reality of uncertainty? With the possibility that today might be the day when everything changes?
You remember what doesn’t, and fix your eyes there:
Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Michael Kelley is a husband, father of three, author, and speaker from Nashville, TN. His latest book is a year-long family devotional guide called The Whole Story for the Whole Family. Find his personal blog at michaelkelley.co.
