01.20.09

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. - Genesis 1:1.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. - John 1:1-4.

Today with the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama II as President of the United States there is a sense of historic change in the events of the inauguration. Indeed, President Obama’s administration will give us change of some type. Countless millions are hopeful that there will be changes that will be favorable to them and their dreams that will be brought about by the new administration. However, there are many millions who are less hopeful and even fearful about what the new administration will bring about. To this point following the election most of those who say that they are fearful about what is ahead will agree that they have been pleased and to some extent relieved by many of the actions of the President Elect. You can be certain though that those with far reaching hopes and dreams for this new administration and those who are fearful will find that not all that they hoped for or were fearful about will actually occur. However, there will be changes. Some of those changes may appear to be good by some and bad by others. Of course, life is like that; there will always be changes that will force us to make adjustments of one kind or another.

Change is in the air and for some it has been a grim reality of life as they have faced financial devastation with their savings wiped out and their dreams of retirement moved into the future. Many others have lost their homes and unknown numbers are without homes of any kind simply living on the streets, or wherever they can. Some of us have encountered health problems for ourselves or our loved ones. Those problems are compounded by the high cost of health care in the United States and by many being uninsured. A few million people have lost their jobs and are being forced to make changes they perhaps never thought they would have to make. We all hope that the new President will be able soften the blow that some of these changes have brought into the lives of so many. Let us all do as the apostle Paul encouraged in 1 Timothy 2:1-4, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Change can be difficult as one anonymous person once noted: "My great-grandfather rode a horse, but was afraid of the train. My grandfather rode on a train, but was afraid of cars. My Dad rode in a car, but was afraid of airplanes. I fly in airplanes, but I’m afraid of horses." While it is difficult, some people accept change and others view change with fear. My grandmother (My Dad’s mother) had a driver’s license in the 1920s but my step-grandmother never learned to drive.

While change is inevitable and we are constantly encountering change in one form or another, there is One who does not change. God does not change as He says in Malachi 3:6a, "For I am the Lord, I do not change." The writer of Hebrews says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8)." From before the foundation of the world there was God. In the beginning, to the end, and forever there will always be God. God is the only sure thing in this world that will never ever change. To successfully cope with changes, whether those changes affect us negatively or positively, that we continually encounter in this life - we need to hold on to the unchangeable God who is the Lord of all.