Constancy in the Chaos

I expected and knew that living in Ecuador was going to be completely different than my experience this past summer in Kenya, but I still went into this semester with many of the same goals and hopes and desires that I had for my Kenya trip. Specifically, I knew that I wanted to experience more deep personal growth. I hoped to discover more about my identity in the Lord and become more rooted in who I am and who I want to be. I want for God to continue opening my eyes to things I have never seen before and reveal more about Himself as I see more of the world and more of His creation.

And the beautiful thing is, I can experience growth and transformation whether on a mission trip in Africa or studying abroad in South America or living my “normal” life back in Boulder or at Duke. Why? Because God is at work EVERYWHERE. Yesterday I spent some time reflecting on and thinking about the fact that God never changes – He is constant, with us and in us all the time, wherever we go, always good and loving. And as simple as that statement may sound, it has profound effects for my life. I need never be afraid or consumed by anxiety, because whatever or wherever God calls me to, I can rest assured and trust that He is constantly by my side. I can go anywhere in the world, and God is there too. I can be alone, surrounded by people, in a place that is totally foreign with people I don’t know or can barely communicate with, and yet God remains the same in each of those places.

This truth has been especially comforting for me recently. As many of you probably already know about me, transitions and change can really freak me out. It’s not that I don’t LOVE new adventures or new places – I do – but whenever I get into a comfortable rhythm of life and then all of sudden have to change patterns and figure out a completely new rhythm, it’s often difficult for me to adjust quickly. Because I love traveling and will probably continue moving around for a good portion of my life, it’s of course not something I let hinder me from going to new places and experiencing new things. But I realized that the reason I am able to make it through and also learn from these times of transition is because I do have God as a constant in my life.

These past two weeks have felt chaotic – there’s been absolutely no definitive schedule or daily routine – we’ve been doing something different or visiting somewhere new each day. And naturally, I’ve been craving some normalcy – the ability to plan ahead and organize my own schedule and independently figure out what my itinerary is for each day. But as I so aptly learned this summer in Africa, often times you just have to go with the flow and be flexible and trust that it’s all going to be okay. God’s got things taken care of. And when life feels unstable or unfamiliar, as it often does, I can and I do turn to Jesus – He is and will always be there, constantly and continually waiting for us with open arms.

constancy / con·stan·cy / noun. the quality of being faithful and dependable, enduring and unchanging

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. – Hebrews 13:8