Today I Choose My Always

Change has always felt like a colorful invitation to something new – which offers possibilities. Adventures. New dreams and ideas. Something different. At least that’s how it usually feels in my world. In My Guy Steve’s world? Not so much. Change is … well, change. And perhaps a root canal seems more inviting. There isn’t a need for different when what’s working now is working now.

No matter your preference for different, I bet you’re feeling a shift in your own world these days. Schedules change so our rhythms need to change. The weather changes so we pull out the light jackets. (Unless you live in the south where it’s really, really hot has changed to it’s really hot.) Activities ramp up at church, school, and kid’s activities, and slower summer evenings are replaced with meetings, projects, and …

… change.

My Fall speaking schedule kicks off next week and my heart is filled with excitement and anticipation. And, my heart is filled with the reminder of the responsibility that comes with that. My schedule has changed, and priorities shifted. All summer I enjoyed early quiet walks, each morning seeing the regular group of walking-neighbors as we each circled the block at our own pace while the birds were waking up. Now the sun isn’t up at our usual time, and we’ve had to change our schedules so we don’t bump into each other in the dark. We aren’t all out there at the same time. It’s different. Health challenges and questions are part of our conversations (as I bet they are part of yours) and as we celebrate healing and answers, we dive in to figure out how to address the new stuff. And I’m changing toothpaste and shampoo.

This shift we’re feeling doesn’t reflect a move from good to bad or bad to good. Right? But it does have the potential of shaking us up a bit. Feeling a bit out of sorts as we find our new rhythm.

I felt that shift this morning as my eyes opened. First, I realized that keeping the windows wide open during the night requires a change. Just a bit too cool these days. And then my mind tried to settle. But the new schedule, new commitments, new responsibilities, new rhythm for the day … the change … kept me from settling. So, I got up. So I could find my settled place.

I threw on my flannel jacket (new necessity), poured my new morning beverage (new health issue), pulled my lap blanket out of its pretty blue wicker basket (new season), contemplated once again the Minnesota Vikings loss on Sunday (not new) and plopped into my study chair. And I reached for My Always. (Not new.)

My Always. I find Him in the Bible. I meet Him in our conversations. I hear Him when I listen. I remember Him in days past and see Him in the new.

In the changes, in the different, in the swirling while we settle into our new, God is present. Always. He doesn’t miss a beat about what’s going on in our lives. He sees us when we are struggling to get back into synch and sets the tempo to help us find our rhythm again.

There is nothing in this world more important to me than My Always. My God. It is only because of His grace and love and mercy that my world makes sense. Especially during a season of change.

You can trust Him today. Ask Him to stabilize what’s shaky and get you back to your settled place. Ask Him to help you find your new rhythm.

He always shows up.

P.S. When someone leaves us a final word – in a speech, in a letter, in a whisper – we know it’s important. Here are the final words of Jesus before he returned to his Heavenly Father:

And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:20