Back in Time

Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)

 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

“Wait a minute, Doc. Are you telling me you built a time machine...out of a DeLorean?”

If you are part of my generation, I am sure you know the name of the movie that contains those famous words. I have always loved time travel movies and Back to the Future is one of the best. Why is it that we are so fascinated with time travel movies? I think it has to do with imagining how the future can be changed by the smallest of changes in the past. We imagine how life would be different and how our history would be changed.

After my son’s accident, my mind would often obsess about changes I could have made. If I knew what was coming, I would have tried to stop him from walking out the door or at the very least hugged him and let him know how much I loved him. I wondered if the accident would have been avoided if we never moved to Missouri from California. I reflected back on all of our driving lessons and wondered if there was anything else I could have taught him to help him survive. The list of things to change continued to grow in my mind as each day passed. Obsessing about changes I could have made would never bring my son back. The past is unchanging. There is no going back.

As time passed, I thought more about my desire to go back and change the past. When I desire a change in the past, I am really trying to play God. How could I assume my way is better. Instead, I knew I needed to trust in my unchanging God. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He had the power to change the past but did not so why should I desire to change it. I wrote about fixing my eyes on Him a few months after the crash.

3:14.19

When a ship is in a storm it looks to a lighthouse as a fixed point to guide it safely home. It serves as an aid to navigation and also a warning of dangerous areas. God is unchanging. We can trust who He is. A perfect guide to what is good, right, and safe. We change because He is unchanging. On December 8th everything changed for me except God. The only thing that remained was faith, hope, and love. In storms we don’t expect the lighthouse to move. We expect the boat to move and adjust. We were tossed and turned but God was unchanging. We need to focus on the light that will lead us safely home.

Change can happen in an instant. When we are disoriented by change we want to retreat to the known of the past. Time travel is a fun concept for movies but focusing our attention on the changes we wish we made in the past distracts us from refocusing our attention on our unchanging God. Instead, we should focus on the One that will lead us safely home.