ISAIAH 40:6-8 – A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
THEME OF THE DAY. THE ONLY THING STABLE. Allow me to state the obvious. We live in an unstable world. Whether it be governments, economies, relationships, even us in our ever-changing emotions, circumstances, and situations, nothing is stable. If it appears to be stable, it is an illusion. It will not be for long. Okay, I know there might be a denier out there saying, “I don’t think that is right, Pastor Jim. Let me give you a personal illustration. I am in a stable marriage. Have been for many decades.” Well, not to be cold or indifferent, but unless the Lord comes back, there will be a day that marriage will not be stable. It will be dissolved by death of one of its members. In a sin-cursed world, there is nothing stable. God has ensured we live in an ever-changing and decaying world as a result of sin.
Actually, there is one thing stable in our world, but it did not come from this world. It came from the God who cannot change and rules this world. And because of its origin, it is not only the one stable thing in our world, but the only thing to be fully trusted and relied upon in this world. It is also the most precious thing in the life of every Christian. It is found in today’s scripture – “But the Word of our God will stand forever.”
During the public ministry of our Lord Jesus, He proclaimed “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). This strong declaration of the enduring nature of the Word of God moves us to trust it with unwavering faith and confidence to be our source of guidance, strength, and comfort in an unstable and ever-changing world. Let us apply two situations when the enduring Word of God comes to our rescue to calm our hearts and minds.
First during times of crisis, like this pandemic, when the temptation is high to give into fear, anxiety, and fretting, what does the Word of God do? It points us to the Lord of the Word who becomes the Author of peace silencing all the loud voices of fear, anxiety and worry seeking to grip our lives – You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you (Isaiah 26:3).
Another application of the enduring Word of God is its ability to see beyond the seen. Much of our “heart problems” in life that rob us of the joy of the Lord come from our failure to “see beyond the seen.” What I mean by that is we are prone to interpret life and its circumstances through the temporal lens of how we feel, and the wisdom of the world. But the Word of God comes and says, “No. Don’t interpret the world through the world but by the Word of God.” And what does the Word tell us about the world? It is fleeting. It is fading away. And when we see life through this lens, we rise above circumstances and difficult trials – So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Seeing an unstable world through the always stable Word ensures we see the world right. In doing so, we give an unstable world of hopelessness the only stable thing in the world – the hope found in the unchanging Gospel of the unchanging Savior, the Lord Jesus.
PRAYER: “Father, thank You for preserving Your Word through time and eternity.”
QUOTE: “Put your trust in the only stable thing in our changing world – God’s unchanging Word.”