Yesterday, Today and Forever.

Devotional | Shannon Miller.

One of the paths at the ruins of Glendalough (glenda-lock) monastery in Ireland leads to a hilltop spot named St. Kevin’s Cell. There, overlooking a lake and rolling green hills, lies the stone foundation of a little shelter where the 14th-century founder of that Christian community would retreat to pray. In 2013 I sat down in the spot for a few minutes, and I could feel the prayers of generations of believers “baked in.” Almost audibly the words came to my mind, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” (Hebrews 13:8, NLT).

That moment happened a few months before I entered a long, dark season of chronic illness, when things I thought I knew about God were shaken. I had perceived Him as a strict Father who weighed Jesus’ sacrifice and my works in a balance to decide how much to bless me. For a time He seemed a distant parent who didn’t answer my attempts at conversation. But on the other side of that season, I know Him as a loving, generous Father whose ways are infinitely higher than mine, and who knew that physical sickness was my way to emotional and spiritual healing and freedom.

No matter how dim or distorted our perceptions may be, the character of God never changes. In the words of A.W. Tozer, “I recommend to you Jesus Christ, the unchanging One. I recommend to you God’s answer to your questions, God’s solution to your problems, God’s life for your dying soul, God’s cleansing for your sin-cursed spirit, God’s rest for your restless mind, and God’s resurrection for your dying body. For advocate above, I recommend Him to you. You will find Him to be all He ever was–the very same Jesus.” As we get to know Him better, we can echo the saints who have gone before — Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!