Neighborhood Alliance Church

Within the past few days and weeks, I’ve heard questions like these from some in our church family: “After you retire, will we still . . . ?” Or, “When Pierre comes, will he . . . ?”

And my answers to such questions always run along this line: “I simply don’t know whether . . . .” In responding like that, I’m not trying to dodge the questions. Instead, many details are impossible to know in a time of transition.

Transition. Webster’s defines it as “passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another.” One online dictionary definition calls it “an event that results in a transformation.” However you define it, transition always involves change.

But however much our natural selves may resist it, change will come. In fact, our creative God loves to do things in new, fresh ways. Take, for example, the Israelites. Centuries before, they had been slaves in Egypt. Now they were captives in Babylon. God had delivered them from their Egyptian slave drivers. Would he deliver them in the same way from their Babylonian masters? Could they count on God to do the same-old, same-old once again?

No—apparently not. Here’s part of the message God sent them through the prophet Isaiah: “. . . don’t remember what happened in earlier times. Don’t think about what happened a long time ago, because I am doing something new! Now you will grow like a new plant” (Isaiah 43:18, 19a, Easy-to-Read Translation).

What made it possible for them—and what makes it possible for us—to face change without being crippled by anxiety? Trust. Trust in the God who promises never to leave us. Just a bit earlier in the same chapter of Isaiah, God had said this to the fearful Israelites: “Don’t be afraid. I saved you. I named you. You are mine. When you have troubles, I am with you. When you cross rivers, you will not be hurt. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not hurt you. That’s because I, the LORD, am your God. I, the Holy One of Israel, am your Savior. . . . You are precious to me, and I have given you a special place of honor. I love you” (verses 1-4).

The writer of Hebrews assures us that we Christians can have the same confidence: “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me’” (Heb. 13:5-6).

In this time of transition, remember the words from Stuart Hamblen’s song, Known Only to Him: “I know not what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future.” Let’s trust in the only Who who can carry us safely through the unknown what.