A Prayer for When You Face Change
By Katy McCown

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 (ESV)

The sound of my steps bounced off the walls as I moved from room to room. Though this place sat empty, my hopes and dreams seemed to saturate every corner.

This home would be my very first place with my husband, Luke. Just a few weeks before, two major life moments unfolded. First, my husband began his career in professional football. Second, Luke and I held hands and shared vows before God and each other.

So, with our dog and our dreams, we packed the trunk with wedding gifts and headed north.

The fall brought news of yet another change: We learned we’d be adding our first child to the family. By springtime, nursery prep was in full swing. After a long weekend of work, I plopped down in the rocking chair.

I envisioned raising my boy in this room. Oh, the stories we’d read and lullabies we would sing. The hugs and snuggles we’d share. I shut my eyes happy that night with a heart brimming with expectation.

If only I could press the pause button right there. But life doesn’t have a pause button, does it?

The next morning I opened my eyes to the news we’d be moving … effective immediately. Less than one year after our future felt so full, we packed all those expectations into boxes and sealed them with packing tape.

We scrambled to relocate and rebuild in a city on the other side of the country. But just as we hit our stride in this new city, we found ourselves facing the same reality again. A late-night phone call bore the news, You’re moving again … tomorrow.

Fourteen years, six teams and six kids later, it’s safe to say the road has been anything but predictable.

Those first years of football taught me how quickly a game can rise and fall. A score’s only exciting until a mistake positions the other team to tie the game. A mistake’s only disappointing until a score puts your team right back in the game.

At first, I watched Luke’s games on pins and needles. I soared with successes and fell apart at failures. Whether we won or lost, I left every game exhausted from the roller coaster ride of emotions I experienced.

I think life can be like a football game. Rises and falls, highs and lows, sometimes every day. In the midst of these uncertainties and surprises, we have two options. We can filter our view of God through our ever-changing circumstances, or we can filter our circumstances through the unchangeable character of Christ.

Today’s key verse reminds us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Our circumstances may rise and fall, but we don’t have to go with them. When we cling to the unchanging character of Christ, we can weather the winds of change.

I’ve started to watch games differently now. Sure, I celebrate the successes. But I don’t hang on the high points and assume it’s all smooth sailing from there. I also don’t dwell on the low moments. I might sigh. I might even scream. But I don’t let the low moments determine the next moment.

Let’s celebrate the highs in our lives, but not let them soften us to hard work and perseverance. Let’s learn from the low points, but not let them sour us to expectation and anticipation.

Most of all, let’s choose to fix our eyes on the One who never changes, the One who steadies our souls, no matter what we face.

Thank You, God, that You are sure. I can always count on You, because You will never change. Thank You for a safe place to fix my eyes when everything else seems unstable. Only You are my Rock and my Fortress. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

A Prayer for When You Don’t Understand Your Circumstances
By Dr. James MacDonald

“His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him” (John 12:16, ESV).

We can all attest to the 20/20 nature of hindsight; that moment of looking back on a complicated, confusing situation and realizing exactly what we should have done or been aware of at the time.

But can we somehow turn this expectation into an advantage in the moment, as it’s playing out? Can we live in light of the reality that a time is coming when we’ll see God’s hand in all of this?

Have you ever been in a situation like that—where you didn’t understand what was happening? Where you couldn’t seem to feel anything but disappointment or confusion? Where you seemed to be more questions than answers?

Knowing why is not part of the skillset God expects from us as His followers. Answers to all the usual questions—Why is this happening? What on earth is God doing?—are not required, most likely not even available, during the heat of life’s most mystifying moments.

All you need to know in times like these is the confident assurance that afterward, when you look back, you will see His hand at work in it. And knowing you’ll see it from a distance means it’s already here in the present—perhaps not to be recognized immediately, but to be trusted implicitly.

Even when it’s difficult now, remember that one day you’ll see with clarity what God has been doing. And that it was always, only, for your good and His glory.

Pray:

Lord God, I know You are here. I trust in Your presence, Your power, Your goodness, and Your complete control over everything I’m facing. Help me walk through the questions, assured of Your answers, even though they’re still unclear to me. I know one day King Jesus will appear as the “Faithful and True” (Revelation 19:11), riding a powerful horse and fully revealing His authority. And I know that even now, when I don’t understand all the answers, I have You with me, and that is all that matters. Please give me increasing eyes of faith to trust what You are doing, even—and especially—when I don’t understand. I love You and I trust You, and I pray these things in Jesus’ Worthy Name, Amen.