The Unchangeable Rock

 Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. 

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.

Psalm 61:1‭-‬3 

Life is like the sea---shifting and changing from moment to moment. The waves rise up and crash to unknown depths. Stillness hushes the raging, murky waters till they sparkle like polished glass stretching out to the heavens. Beauty and terror meet in the swirling, ever-changing tides of life.

I find myself swept up in this sea of life, and here I am just as changeable as the waters that toss me about mercilessly. To face this alone is to sink into the bottomless depths of despair, yet to face it as I clutch and grab for the equally shifting and changeable things around me is to hold on to impending doom. Where shall I find help to keep from sinking underneath the pounding waves of my struggles and sorrows? Where shall I find hope in the midst of the swirling moments of my life that crash over me at times? Where shall I find peace that outlasts that momentary stillness when the heavens and waters meet in dazzling glory?

Yet I behold the mighty mercy of my God holding out HOPE in the midst of the waves. For in him I have a ROCK in this sea of life. The Rock that never changes as it towers over seas and swells; waves and surf. Its fierce power is daunting in its unmovable strength and might. Its shores pierce deeply into those who are dashed against it, but to those who seek shelter in the cleft of this Rock, rest and peace abound in the midst of life's raging seas.

This Rock is dear and precious to my soul. For I have certainly felt the crushing weight of the waves dragging me under as I floundered in the seas. How my heart has longed for a refuge in the storm, and  all my strength was spent in seeking such a refuge of my own making. I have tried to stay afloat by my own strength, power, wisdom, gifts, and ability. I have taken ahold of the equally storm tossed and sinking things around me, hoping to find a secure place to rest only to end up sinking under the false hope they offered.

How mighty is the everlasting grace of God that reached out to me as I sank underneath my weight of sin. The unfathomable love of God in Christ Jesus proved deeper than the ocean depths and higher than the heavens. He set my feet upon the Rock who is higher than I and my soul has found a secure place to hide in the depth of my Savior's wounds. My Rock is Jesus Christ, and there is no other.

No love could be greater than the love of God demonstrated in Christ Jesus as He came down into the midst of these crashing seas of life to walk upon the storm tossed waves. Through his perfect life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection, Jesus made the only way to Heaven out of the raging seas of time. Jesus is the only Hope, the only Rock, and the only Shelter for storm-tossed sinners.

In the daily moments of life as the seas rise up and crash below, and as the storms brew and break by the swirling winds of time, I find my Rock proves true again and again and his Word is the shelter of my soul. The Word of God proves steadfast, immovable and sure through every raging storm. I hold fast to God's Word as the waters crash and roll; my soul remains unmoved for God's Word stands firm. I find shelter in the seas of life as I hide in the depths of God's Word surrounded by His unfailing promises.  All around me changes and I am ever-changing but the Word of God changes NOT and I find myself secure in the arms of my Savior, sheltered by his love as I rest upon His Word.

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever."

Isaiah 40:8