The last few weeks have included well over 2,000 miles of driving, adventures, and of course Convocation and Provincial Assembly. It’s now time for us to switch gears (pun intended) as we transition back into our regular rhythms of life back here in Auburn.

Moments of transition are difficult, whether you are returning from conferences and vacations to routine life, returning from a military deployment, or moving from one city to another. Just like in a machine when two parts make a connection, there is friction between the old and the new. How much heat is produced depends on the length and strength of the friction between the two. Most of our transitions are minor and produce very little heat and stress, like that of arriving home from a trip. Others like those who are returning from a deployment can create large amounts of stress and not a little heat.

I wonder what kind of transitions are happening in all of our lives right now that we might not even be aware of. We are constantly aging (though some won’t admit it), our phases of life are changing, our children are getting older, our couches and shoes wear out and we need to transition into new ones which require a little “breaking in.”

 

Fortunately, in the midst of all of this change, we have an unchanging God. Psalm 102:25-27 says, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They shall perish, but you shall endure; they all shall wear out, as does a garment; And as a garment you shall change them, and they shall be changed; but you are the same, and your years shall not fail.”

Even as our garments wear out and we need to replace them with new garments, the Lord will lead us through changes—they are part of life—yet he himself does not change and we have a rock we can stand on when all other ground is shifting sand.