Nothing changes if nothing changes

About five years ago, as my husband and I went through the most difficult time of our marriage, a phrase that become important to us was "nothing changes if nothing changes."

I like to think many things have changed since that time and know I could make a long list, if I would just take the time.

And yet, many things seem as unchanged as ever, despite my eternally optimistic hope (even as I resisted making official resolutions) at the start of another new year.

For all my good intentions, this may have been my most challenging January ever.

Is it spiritual warfare, a result of my commitment to not only read but study the Bible daily? Is it just the dark before the dawn, the growing pains that lead to a fruitful harvest?

It doesn't really matter what the source of my seeming stuckness is.

I will cling to God's eternal truths and trust in His faithfulness, even if I have doubts for the moment.

And something I saw on Facebook yesterday, posted by Mindful Christianity Today, expresses a truth that was on my mind: "When you replace 'Why is this happening to me?'  with 'What is this trying to teach me?,' everything shifts."

And tonight, I read this, from Lysa Terkeurst:

Satan wants you to believe you are forsaken. He wants you to think you are forgotten. He wants you to give up hope.
But listen to the symphony of truth that crescendos in this verse from Hebrews 10:23: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” It overrides the enemy’s lies with these most glorious realities:
1. We just have to hold on to God’s hope. We don’t have to feel the hope, fulfill the hope or even understand the hope. We just have to picture ourselves holding onto this lifeline between God’s heart and ours and declare, “I am going to be an unswerving holder of this hope from God!”
2. We must profess the promises over our problems. Every problem we have can be made less painful by declaring a promise of God over it. It may still hurt but it won’t cripple us and hold us back if we remember that God promises through it all, He will hold us up.
3. God will carry the weight of making sure His promises are carried out. He is the faithful One. He is the sure One. It doesn’t depend on us; therefore; we don’t have to have a perfect performance in order for His promises to be fulfilled. We just have to hold on to Him and His love.

I will continue to lean on His love as I learn and grow.