DON’T RELY ON YOUR OWN SHIFTING OPINIONS AND IDEAS; INSTEAD RELY ON THE UNCHANGING GOD.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Daniel 4:34-35.
Verse of the Day: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
Tamara stomped up the sidewalk, past her mother who knelt beside the flower garden, and burst through the front door of the house.
Mom left her gardening and followed Tamara into the house. “What’s the matter with you, girl?” Mom asked, sitting on the couch next to her daughter.
Tamara, who had struggled to control her emotions all the way home from school, now burst into tears. “It’s Miss Johnson!” Tamara wailed, referring to her teacher. She wiped the big tears from her face. “I asked her last week if Janine and I could work together on our schoolwork sometimes because of her learning disability, and she said yes.” She sniffed. “We’re supposed to do our schoolwork by ourselves, usually.”
Mom nodded, encouraging Tamara to go on.
“Well, today, when I moved my desk next to Janine’s to help her with her work, Miss Johnson yelled at me and told me to put my desk back where it belonged!”
“Did you explain-?” Mom started to ask, but Tamara nodded her head.
“Yes!” she said. “I tried to remind her about what she said last week, but she said she never said any such thing!”
Mom draped her arm around Tamara and pulled her close. “Don’t you worry, honey,” Mom said. “I’ll give Miss Johnson a call. I’m sure we can work this out.”
“It’s just not right,” Tamara said after a pause. “First she told me it was OK, then she acted like I’d broken a law or something.”
Mom patted Tamara’s shoulder. “I know,” she said.
“It’s just not fair,” Tamara said.
Mom nodded. “Well, Miss Johnson might have misunderstood you, or you might have misunderstood her, or she might have forgotten,” she said. She paused for a few moments before continuing. “That’s why God didn’t put us people in charge of saying what’s right and what’s wrong—because we’re always changing our minds and forgetting things.
“But God-well, now, he’s a different story. He doesn’t forget. He doesn’t change his mind or change the rules. That’s why I want you to always rely on him and what he says is right or wrong, not on what you think or what your friends think or what anybody else thinks. OK?”
Tamara smiled and lifted her books off the couch. “OK, Mom,” she said.
TO DISCUSS: Think about a time when someone’s change of mind hurt your plans or your feelings. How did that make you feel about that person’s trustworthiness?
TO PRAY: “Eternal God, we are often changing. Our attitudes change, our moods change, our beliefs change. But you are unchanging. Help us not to rely on our own shifting opinions and ideas for moral guidance but to look to you and to your Word.”
