I read a book once called Your God Is Too Safe. In the book, the author talked about how his family would go on vacation and stay in the same cabin year after year. The cabin did not have air conditioning, and on the hot, hot summer nights when the heat became unbearable, inevitably they would find themselves all downstairs, sharing a bed in the cool basement. This became a pastime for them and they came to love this bed downstairs.

One day his wife was cleaning and she started screaming. When he came running into the room, he saw a snake in or under (I can’t really remember) the bed. He finally got the snake out of the house.

That night, they all went to bed and again the heat was oppressive. But you know what? Not one of them went down to that bed. The bed hadn’t changed. It was just as comfortable. It was just as cool. It was just as it had always been, but their experience and their opinion of it had changed. They would rather suffer with the stuffiness and humidity than crawl between its cool sheets.

When he finished this story he likened it to our relationship with God. God doesn’t change. But our experiences with Him can change our opinion of him.

For instance, it was the same God that watched the sun rise September 11, 2001 and watched the sun set that same day. But my experience  had altered my opinion of Him. He hadn’t change, but I had. I became hardened and untrusting. I had been hurt. I felt alone.

It took awhile for me to trust God again… to trust that He knew what He was doing. I had to learn that I am changeable, He is not. And over time I found that comforting. It meant that no matter what I was going through, no matter my dark days, or my painful moments- He was still the same. And by His word I know that means that He is working all things for those who love him. For me! And hopefully for you too!

I had a rough day today, and maybe you did too, but I just want to remind you that the same God that saw you wake up will watch as you sleep. Find comfort in that and know that He is good… All the time.