“There is no shadow of turning with Thee”
Life is full of ups and downs, twists and turns. Our circumstances and mood can fluctuate many times throughout the course of a day. It’s amazing to me how I can wake up in one mood, thinking the day will play out a certain way, and then one thing happens and completely changes the direction and tone of my day.
Our emotions are fickle; they can change so drastically and so quickly that we can often feel like we’re riding a roller coaster.
One of the key verses this Sunday is James 1:17:
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
Our lives can often feel like we’re living moment to moment, waiting for the next moment to determine whether we are happy with our lives or not, whether we are satisfied or not, whether we have peace or fear.
But as James points out, there is a truth that can help us, and that is to remind ourselves that even though our circumstances change, God never does.
When life is good, God doesn’t love us more; when life is bad, God doesn’t love us less. This Sunday we will sing about God’s faithfulness and goodness in all circumstances.
One of the songs we will sing Sunday “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” quotes James 1:17 in its first verse: “There is no shadow of turning with Thee.” In this song, we go on to sing about how God’s love for us never changes! Through all the seasons and situations of life, God provides us with “strength for today and a bright hope for tomorrow.”
In another song we will sing Sunday “Goodness of God,” we sing about how we will praise God because He has been faithful in all circumstances. He has “led us through the fire, and in our darkest night, He is close like no other.” Because of the forgiveness He has shown us, because of His always faithful, never giving up, never changing love for us, we “lay our lives down in surrender and give Him all that we have” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
We have no shortage of reasons to praise God. There is a song I’ve heard on the radio by Seph Schuler called “Count My Blessings,” and the chorus goes like this:
“God, I’m still counting my blessings
All that You’ve done in my life
The more that I look in the details
The more of Your goodness I find
Father, on this side of Heaven
I know that I’ll run out of time
But I will keep counting my blessings
Knowing I can’t count that high.”
We will never run out of reasons to praise God. His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), every good and perfect gift comes from Him (James 1:17), and His faithfulness endures forever (Psalm 100:5). The next time you find yourself on the emotional rollercoaster of life, take a step back and try counting the blessings of God in your life. I think you’ll find that it will help remind you of God’s never-changing goodness and faithfulness towards us.