It’s September 2017. The semester has just started, lots of new things are beginning, and I’m trying to figure out what in the world I am going to do for school in the next year. I have always loved and felt refreshed by new seasons and beginnings, including when RUF Ladies’ Bible study starts up again for the semester. We were going through 1 Samuel and talking about our desires to control everything in our lives just like the Israelites wanted to. Our campus minister’s wife, Wendy, told us about an example that she found helpful in her life. She explained how we need to hold our plans for our lives loosely and come to our Father with open hands rather than gripping tightly to what we desire. She even showed us an example with her hands by turning her palms face up rather than gripping down tightly.

I was immediately encouraged and comforted by her example. I was reminded how our Father is sovereign over all, and I don’t need to feel in control all the time and always know what lies ahead.

Right now, I am in a big season of transition and change, and a lot of things are up in the air. I find that new things are exciting yet so terrifying at the same time. I go back and forth from wanting to see what’s next to clinging tightly to what I already know. The unknown is so scary and sometimes makes me want to crawl into a corner and hide. Many times I find myself feeling unsteady, shaky, and constantly forgetting who my Solid Rock is. I forget that my God is sovereign and in control.

I think many of us feel this way at times. We want to be in control and cling tightly to what we know because we feel safe. We want to see what lies ahead, but we are also terrified of the unknown. During these times of feeling afraid, my hope is that we will remember who our God is.

He is the God who brought the Israelites out of slavery and into the Promised Land.

He kept promises time after time in Scripture and will always keep them.

God loves His children so deeply that He sent His only Son to die.

His presence is the only place where our fears truly subside.

He will never leave us alone.

We can be confident that He is in control and is holding us in the palm of His hands. We can remember that He is God, and we are not. We can humbly come to His throne of grace with open hands knowing that He is sovereign over all. 

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Proverbs 19:21

When our world seems to be changing quicker than we can blink, we can rest in the fact that our God does not change. He is permanent. His love is steadfast. He is faithful.

My prayer is that in times of change and uncertainty, we would cling tightly to what we know is true, Jesus Himself and remember that we are already being held. 

Question: Our God does not change. How can we be reminded and remind each other of this when we feel afraid and not in control?