By George Dakin

Wabash Presbyterian

I guess after living in the Pacific Northwest for one and one-half years, I can’t say we’re new any longer.

In fact, technically, we never were really new to the Northwest since we lived in eastern Washington in the early 1990s. But when it comes to the weather, there really is no comparison between the two, so given that criteria, we were “new” to the weather on the west side of our state. And, as many of you know, the weather here on the west side is fickle at best.

And it seems this is a lousy year to use as any kind of a benchmark when it comes to weather. I’ve heard from countless sources, “This is the strangest year we’ve ever seen!” So much rain, so many cloudy skies, so little warmth and on and on it goes. And like you, I’m sure, I have heard everything from “I’ve given up hoping for good weather” to “I’m packing up and leaving.”

Fickle! I don’t know how else to describe it. Warm one day, cloudy the next. Beautiful one half of the week, dreary for the next week and a half, with no real pattern at all.

The constant fluctuation in the weather makes me glad for the constant things in life. I know, however, in speaking to many people that even in life, there are no guarantees. Some thought their family would be that constant, only to be destroyed by the pain of separation and divorce. Some thought their job would be that constant, only to have their consistency decimated by a layoff or downsizing. For some, the weather has been representative of life in general. Fickle at best. Is there anything that’s consistent? Can you count on anything? Or anyone?

I’m happy to let you know that God’s love for you can be that constant. There is an outstanding verse of scripture from the New Testament that says this: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17).

As I mentioned, we in the Pacific Northwest have more than our share of shifting shadows. It seems as though in any given day, those shadows shift continually. And, it could be, that in your life circumstances, the shadows continually shift, even on an hourly basis. At one moment things are going well, and as soon as you turn around, the shadow shifts and all bastions of constancy in your life now seem to have become like Jell-o.

Fickle!

So, let me encourage you today: God’s love for you is not like that. His love for you never changes. His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ always stands for you. His nature is one that never changes and incumbent upon his nature is unconditional love for you, his child. The writer of Psalm 46 spelled that out well when he wrote centuries ago: “God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea…” (Psalm 46:1-2.

My prayer for you as I write this is that if life is crumbling around you and seemingly very fickle, like our weather, you will cast your cares and burdens upon the one who is a constant; the one who isn’t fickle, who’s nature is not personified by the shifting shadows and cloud cover, but rather is unchangeable and always loving toward you.