In 1847, an Anglican cleric by the name of Henry Francis Lyte composed a famous hymn
entitled Abide With Me. He originally wrote the words of the hymn in 1820 while visiting a dying friend, William Augustus Le Hunte. While Lyte sat at his bedside, Le Hunte repeated the phrase “abide with me” over and over again. When Lyte was approaching his own death, he recalled the words he had written 27 years earlier and developed the hymn before his death. Consider the words of the second verse:
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day,
Earth’s joys grow dim its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see,
O thou who changest not abide with me.
Change is, in a lot of cases, something we attempt to avoid. Especially if that change includes something that will negatively impact us. Losing a loved one is one of the most difficult situations in life. Having a friendship deteriorate to the point of no reconciliation is a change that hurts us. Losing a job or going through a divorce are changes that none of us desire to happen. While we try to avoid these types of changes, some of them are unavoidable. As Francis Lyte observes, life does change, things do decay, and things we once enjoyed doing, pass away. Life will change whether we want it to or not.
Dramatic changes in our lives can leave us feeling hopeless and lost. The apostles must have felt that emotion when Jesus had died, been resurrected, and was about to leave them again to ascend into Heaven. They had been following Him for about three years and witnessed the amazing things He said and did. They watched Him die in a gruesome way that He did not deserve. They experienced His remarkable resurrection three days later. And now He was suddenly leaving again. Have you ever thought about what the apostles were feeling? Scared? Fearful? Distraught?
Remember the promise Jesus makes to His disciples. “and behold I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). It is important to remind ourselves of the God we serve in those moments. We, as Christians, can take comfort in knowing that we have an unchanging God. The Hebrews writer writes, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). In a world full of change we can have certainty that our God has never and will never change. He will always be with us. Francis Lyte, correctly, acknowledged the importance of the unchanging God and desired that God would abide with him. How different would our lives be, if we reminded ourselves of the unchanging nature of God and dedicated our lives to Him?
As a result of the unchanging nature of God, we get to enjoy the unchanging faithfulness that proceeds from Him. In Lamentations 3:22-23, the text reads, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” As the people of God, we are promised God’s unchanging faithfulness. What does that faithfulness look like? God’s faithfulness is seen through the comfort that He can provide. Jesus makes the offer of comfort through saying, “Come unto me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and You will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). That same invitation is extended to all of us today.
Change can be difficult. Will you take refuge in the unchanging God? Will you ask Him to abide with you? He can provide a comfort that no one else can provide. He can provide foundation in the midst of change.
- How do the unchanging promises of God affect you and your family?
- As Christians we are called to support each other in the midst of trials (Jn 13:34, Heb 3:13, 1 Thess 5:11). How can we better support fellow Christians going through dramatic changes?
- Discuss changes that have affected your family and read Romans 8:28. How could God be working through these changes? Pray that God would comfort you in regards to thesechanges.
- Read John 15:1-11. How can you better abide in the unchanging God and the good things that can proceed from that?
Print article and questions HERE.