God Doesn’t Change

My beautiful son and I took a trip up into the hills recently, to the familiar area of my childhood.

We drove past the road where I had lived and continued up to the lookout a kilometre or so further on. I reminisced about the many times I had ridden my bike along the road, showing him the point where I had often stopped instead of continuing to the lookout, as the hill back home was often too steep for me to manage on my girly three speed bike.

As we drove I marvelled at how the environment had remained essentially the same. The area is now a little more “gentrified” than it had been when I was a child, but it is still quiet and spacious, with spectacular views.

We stayed for a while at the lookout, drinking in the glorious vista. The only thing that seemed to have changed there was that the trees had grown taller, obstructing the view across to where we used to be able to see our neighbours’ properties all those years ago.

As we drove slowly back along the road I noticed a young teenager walking her dog. I suddenly had a desperate urge to jump out of the car and beseech her to enjoy the time she has growing up there in such a beautiful environment. As life often goes, she may not be able to afford to live there when she is older, or even to replicate the lifestyle elsewhere, should she wish to do so. My desire to act like the crazy middle aged woman that I was in that moment, was only assuaged by my unwillingness to embarrass my beautiful teenage son sitting beside me.

We continued down the road and into the forest. It was literally like stepping back in time. Nothing has changed on this stretch of road. The forest through which I used to ride my bike to the “local” corner store is on the left and the houses are on the right. The residential blocks, I assume, are not eligible for subdivision, and while a few of the houses have been upgraded, their gardens are exactly as I remember them.

My childhood was idyllic. I am so grateful to be able to say that it was a safe, loving and peaceful time of my life. As my beautiful son and I drove through the forest I was overwhelmed with renewed feelings of that safety and peace. I often tell my son that the hills are my “happy place”, and the drive through the unchanged environment of my youth attested to that sentiment.

But it is more than that. As we travelled, the verse “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) came powerfully to mind. It was illustrated so clearly and beautifully in that moment.

The God of today is the same God who protected Moses and the Israelites on their journey of exile. He’s the same God who instructed Abraham to step out in faith towards the promised land. He’s the God who orchestrated Joseph’s journey from betrayal and slavery, to saviour of his betrayers and the country from famine. He’s the God whose previous protections and answered prayers the psalmists remember, and whom they trust again in their most terrifying moments. He’s the God of miracles, the greatest of which is the raising of his son, Jesus, from the dead, for the forgiveness of our sins.

He is the God of my idyllic childhood memories, of my less rosy today and the God of my unknown earthly future. He is my safe place because He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help…The. LORD shall preserve they going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. (Psalm 121: 1,8)

Nikki