Stable instability

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Hebrews 13:8 (NLT)

Lately I was thinking about phone numbers that have been stored away in my memory for many years. Quickly I was able to recite about a dozen phone numbers from my childhood, such as the town grocery store, the library, the schools, my best friends' parent's houses, my family phone numbers, etc.  It occurred to me that almost ALL of those numbers are still in existence.  I know if I want to call my 'twin sister' Susan's mom and dad at this very moment, I could dial the same number I dialed 25 years ago, and they would answer.  My parent's, my aunt and uncle, my grandma's, my in-law's numbers, they're all still the same.

We live in a time where a lot of people have gotten rid of their land line phones and now have only the cell phone to save money.  I get that, I do.  That is not the point of my post.  My point is that there was stability. As a child, I knew what phone number to call to reach my mom and a dozen other people.  I wasn't ever worried or anxious about trying to remember which phone number worked and which didn't.  In fact, back in the day, we didn't even have to dial all seven or ten numbers, we could just dial (on a brightly-colored rotary phone, of course) the last four digits as long as we were calling local.  That seems so bizarre now.
  
Right now our country is having a power struggle over money, budgets, health care, and everything under the sun.  I'm not even sure I understand what is really going on with all of that.  But the one thing it has reminded me of is that I should never put my trust in the world, the government or other people.  No matter how old we are, we are children of God.  Our security should be found in Him first.

As children, we are so dependent upon our parents.  My kids expect Jay or I to be home every night.  When Jay is working nights, they never have to wonder if I will be home.  They never have to worry about who is moving in or out of our house, whether we're moving, what our new address will be (and for how long) or what phone number to call.  We do our best to provide some level of stability in our children's lives.

In a world full of instability and constant change, there is nothing better to instill in the mind/heart of a child (whatever the age) than the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.  It is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His phone number will never change. His address will remain the same.  You can count on that.