Cindy Powell

There is so much change in the world these days and my life has been no exception.  Especially in recent years it seems nearly everything has, or is changing.  The changes have affected my spiritual life too.  God has completely rewired my “theology” in recent years – or at least what’s left of it!  It was disturbing for a while – I wasn’t sure what to believe.  But it’s kind of funny because all the change has served to bring me back to my roots and to what I know to be true.  It’s brought me back again and again to the things that don’t change.  Whenever I start wondering whose   “version” or interpretation of Christianity to believe, I remember that Jesus never came to start a religion called Christianity – He came to reconcile the world to Himself.   And when I start wondering who to believe with all the differing opinions out there – even amongst those I respect greatly – I choose instead to simply believe Him.   

Years ago – when God was first invading my heart and mind and drawing me to Himself – I found myself in a similar situation.  It seemed like everything I had known and believed was changing and I no longer knew what to believe.   As God’s pursuit of my heart and life intensified, I heard His voice clearly for the first time.  His words were in response to my plea for Him to “show me what to believe!”  His answer?  Believe Me and I’ll show you.    

That made it pretty simple.  Recently He reminded me again of those words and of His faithfulness to keep them.  When I remember that His goal has always been, and will always be, relationship – “what to believe” becomes simple again.   I choose to believe Him.  The mysteries of life and faith are simply an invitation to draw closer – to trust and believe Him more.  When we keep the main thing the main thing, the rest of it really does fall into place.

This afternoon I re-read something I wrote about seven years ago.  Because so much of my thinking has, thankfully, changed in the ensuing years I’m sometimes a little apprehensive about reading things I wrote even just a few years back.  The piece I read was a devotional I’d written about hearing His voice.  Since this, in particular, is an area in which God has tremendously changed my thinking and, as a result opened my ears and my heart, I was wondering what “silly” things I may have commited to paper at that time.  What I read surprised me. Although I probably would have worded it a bit differently today, my conclusion was basically the same:  believe God – who doesn’t change – and seek to hear His heart.  If you do that, you don’t need to worry so much about the rest- including the times we get it “wrong “.

Our ‘walk’ with God is just that – a walk.  It is a journey, not a single destination.  Yes, of course, we’ll ultimately end up in heaven, but that’s not what I’m referring to.  The cross took care of our final destination – I’m talking about the “goal” of our lives here.  We tend to think that a  “successful”  journey is a linear line going from point A to point B.  I’m absolutely convinced that God doesn’t think that way at all.  For Him – it’s about the journey itself and not so much about getting to a certain place.  He just wants to take a walk with us.   Are there objectives, assignments, things to partner with Him in along the way?  Of course.  Should we always be learning and growing in our knowledge of Him?  Of course.  But even as your knowledge of Him and His heart expands don’t be at all surprised if, instead of going from point A to point B, the journey leads you in a big ol’ circle.    Back to simply talking a walk with God in the cool of the day.  Sound familiar?  No matter how far you go, at some point the journey should lead you right back to where you started.  

Back to the beginning.  Back to the things that don’t change.