Stability in Shifting Sands

            Bounce houses were never overly appealing to me as a child.  They were okay until  some of the older, bigger kids joined in, and I found myself struggling to stay upright for more than a millisecond.  With a perpetually and dramatically shifting surface underfoot, I would get tossed around, stuck in the side crevices, and then inevitably end up emerging a little motion sick.  Sometimes life feels like a bounce house.  In the midst of ever-shifting circumstances, surroundings, relationships, and feelings, we can come out feeling bruised, leery, guarded, and cynical.  When nothing seems certain or unchanging, we start looking desperately for something steady and reliable to hold on to.  It's as though we are being swiftly carried away by a river, and we desperately need a rock or a branch to grab onto before we drown.  At times, we may think we have found security in something or someone, but eventually it always dissipates like sand through our fingers.  In other moments, we give up and just try to find ways to numb ourselves to the pain, disappointment, and disillusionment. 

We can find true, perfect, and complete stability, security, and peace in only one place, which is described by two of my very favorite verses.  Isaiah 26:3, 4 says,

                        “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,

                        Because he trusts in You.

                        Trust in the LORD forever,

                        For in GOD, the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.”

               

He is our solid ground, our steady hand, and our unchanging Father.  I love how much verse four emphasizes the eternity of God.  The Hebrew word for “LORD” refers to God’s self-existence, and “GOD” is simply a shorter form of that same name.  He always has been, He is, and He always will be.  If you include the word “everlasting,” that makes four times that the writer emphasizes God’s self-existence and eternity in this one verse.  These terms don’t just refer to the span of His existence, but to the steadfastness of His very character.  Unlike we humans who are constantly changing, He didn’t used to be a different person, and He isn’t becoming a different person.  He is.  What a secure and steady Rock He is in whom we can wholly place our trust! 

As we trust in Him and let our minds rest and lean on Him (the KJV, NKJV, and ESV all translate the phrase in verse 3 as those whose minds are “stayed on” You), He keeps us in “perfect peace.”  I have only climbed a rock wall a handful of times, but this concept of leaning and trusting reminds me of the trip back down the wall with a belayer.  I remember having to lean back in my harness and trust both the equipment and the belayer to bring me back to the ground safely.  I had peace because I knew that the equipment was sound and the belayer was experienced.  Though equipment may brake and people may fail, our God never fails, and He offers us a peace to which nothing in this world can even compare.  He is the safe place.  Though life may try to fling us around, we always have this anchor to which we can cling if we would only choose: our everlasting Rock.