Sunsets and Change

Hello there! :) My last two posts were a little long, as they were also doubling as Sabbath School Remarks for my church, but this post is shorter, and I hope my posts in the future will be a similar length. Anyway, I hope you are blessed by these thoughts- they are just as much a reminder for me as I hope they are for you.

I don't always like change. Sure, some changes are fun and exciting, like making a new friend, turning a special age, or redecorating your room. But usually, the changes we didn't anticipate, the ones that are beyond our control, we seem to have a hard time with. Many times, changes bring endings- and I know that I personally don't like to see good things come to an end. Sometimes I've wished that nothing would ever change, that everything would always stay just like it is. 

Not too long ago, on a Friday evening, I was trying to make sure I was ready for Sabbath, and I had a little bit of time to myself. I was going to grab my phone and text my friends, but then I just felt impressed to sit down and watch the sunset. So I did. I pulled up a chair and basked in God's presence, and I was really blessed by it. 

So, you might have noticed that I really like sunrises. 😉 But sunsets, well, I guess I hadn't given them much thought. Maybe because they were a reminder that the day was ending. But through that time with Him, God impressed my heart that there is beauty in the "sunsets" of life. The very fact that He wraps the end of the day in beauty is just as hope-filled as the promise of the sunrise. The same God who was with us when the day began, is still there when it ends, and the sunset is His reminder that He will still be with us in the night.

Sunsets precede the night. Sometimes change and endings can seem to throw us into a valley that feels dark, scary, and uncertain. But the sunset is God's assurance, that though the night comes, He is not going to leave us, He will still be with us. So whatever the ending you might be facing, whatever changes you're going through, take heart- there is hope in the sunset. Emmanuel is not going to leave you- He is as close in the night as He was in the day.

"I love Your voice, You have led me through the fire

In darkest night, You are close like no other

I've known You as a Father, I've known You as a Friend

And I have lived in the goodness of God"

-Goodness of God (Bethel Music)