Stability in the Love of God

 

I don’t know about you, but as I came upon this beautiful yard the word that filled my mind was stability. Doesn’t it look as if all is right with the world, at least at this address? The perfectly aligned stone border. The edged lawn. The trimmed bushes. The classic street lamp. The swept walkway. All of this has the feel of stability to me.

I suppose that it is the state of things in the world that drew my mind to the idea of stability. War. Inflation. Mass shootings. Baby formula shortages. Divisions. Extremism. Loss of trust in institutions. So much is swirling around that can easily make us feel as if the ground is shifting. It is no wonder that we find a sense of stability illusive.

Jesus acknowledged that the world would always be tumultuous and unstable. What he offered was stability in the face of whatever comes our way.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

The rain will fall, the floods will come, the winds will blow. The world will continue spinning and things will sometimes feel on the verge of falling apart. But we can have stability in the love of God. No circumstance can change God’s love for us or for this troubled world. That foundation is sure and stable.

Peace.