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Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. - Hebrews 13:8  

Have you ever thought about all the places you have lived in your life. I have lived in a lot of places – not as many as some, but maybe more than others.  

The other day, I was just thinking about all the places I have lived.  

There was the house in Morehead City, NC, I grew up in until I was 17, and then my dad designed and helped build a house next door to that one. I lived there for 1 year. Then it was off to Carolina, where I lived in the dorm for a year, then in an apartment for 3 years with my friend Jim. After Carolina, I moved to California where I slept on some friends’ sofa for a while, then rented a room in a house, followed by renting another room in a house with my boss and his family, all in SoCal.  

When Stacey and I got married, we lived in a small apartment with countertops with yellow flowers. Following this we moved to a larger second story apartment that was split level. When Stacey got pregnant, we realized that this apartment was not going to work. God opened up an amazing opportunity for us to rent a house which was wonderful!  

When God called us to NC, we lived in a house in Donaha for 6 months while we looked for a house to call our own and found just the right house in Rural Hall. It was a great place to raise the boys. We were there for 11 years. Then we made the move to Pfafftown (which I have to spell for everyone who asks) to a house with a basement apartment where Sherry, Stacey’s mom lives.  

It seems like a lot of places to me. Along the way we have known a lot of people. Every town and every stop along the way have brought people into our lives. Some for a long time. Some for only a short season. Just like us, people move and we lose track of them or we still keep them in our lives, but it is not as close as before. There is constant change. 

Everything is a season. Every house. Every job. Every relationship if you think about it. Both of my parents have gone on to be with the Lord. They were such constants for so many years, but now the years have passed, and their passing gets further and further away. Oh, did I enjoy my long season with them both. But it was just a season.  

As I reflected on these things, I realized that the one constant, the one thing that has never changed but only grown stronger and deeper is the presence of Jesus in my life. He has been with me through every move, every job, every relationship, every high and every low. He has guided me through His Spirit through some amazing times and some very trying ones. I have never been alone or without. He is the constant. He has always been there.  

I can’t imagine what my life would be without Him. I don’t want to. It would be too dark, too fraught with worry, anxiety, fear, and loneliness. I can’t imagine, and don’t want to, what life would be like if I couldn’t spend time in prayer with Him, listen for His voice through His Word and His Spirit, and spend time with His body, the church. I am not sure how I would think about the future without Him, but I don’t think it would be good. I do not know where I would find hope without Him. I would have to make something up, and I would know that I made it up, so where would the hope be? 

No, I am so grateful to have Jesus in my life, to be my life. He has been there for me every step of the way, whether I was aware of it at the time or not at the time. It’s always easier to see after the fact, that He was the One there all the time making it happen and leading the way. He has picked me up every time after I was knocked down, and there with me through every good thing I have ever experienced. He is always present and always unchanging and for that I am eternally grateful. (literally)  

How about you? Where have you lived in your life? What’s your story? And how have you seen Jesus in your life?  

He is there. He is always there. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Wherever you go!