Summary
Fear of Change
Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher who predated Socrates, is credited with the observation that the only constant is change. Scientists confirm it of the cosmos, and we feel it in our daily lives. Plans shift, expectations dissolve, and the day rarely ends as we imagined it would begin. Change can be wonderful, and change can be devastating. The pressing question for the Christian is what to do when change—or the prospect of it—becomes a source of fear.
Psalm 46:1 gives three descriptors of God that ground the believer: He is our refuge, a place of safety where we are protected; He is our strength, holding us up and carrying us forward; and He is "a very present help in trouble." This echoes Christ's promise never to leave or forsake His people. God is not absent or unaware. He is fully present in every season of difficulty, and that presence is the foundation for everything that follows in the psalm.
The little word "therefore" in Psalm 46:2 draws the conclusion: because God is who He is, "we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea." Scripture contains, by tradition, 366 "fear nots"—one for every day of the year, leap year included. The psalmist's imagery reaches even to the end of the age itself; if the believer need not fear the dissolution of the world, neither must he fear the smaller upheavals of his own life. Read figuratively, "my world is falling apart" is met with the same answer: God remains.
Honesty requires admitting that we often lack the psalmist's confidence. We crave stability, and so changes—a doctor's report, a 3 a.m. phone call, a child in trouble—can leave us shaken. Beneath that fear lies a deeper diagnosis: we have been seeking stability in things that, by their very nature, can change. Relationships, jobs, health, life expectancy—nothing this side of heaven is exempt. Looking to changeable things for an unchangeable peace is a recipe for fear. Freedom from the fear of change comes only from being grasped by the unchangeable God Fear of Change 1-19-25.
Psalm 46:10 speaks directly: "Be still, and know that I am God." Loosely paraphrased: calm down. Stop the war-gaming, stop the spiraling, and remember who God is. He is the One who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to the cross to shed His blood for sinners, to pay the debt we could never pay, to be raised from the tomb, and to deliver this finished work to us concretely in the waters of Baptism and in the body and blood of Holy Communion. Knowing this God is what stills the heart amid every change.
God is also immutable—unchanging in essence, character, and will. He cannot grow more loving, more gracious, or more merciful, because He is already perfect; if He could grow, He would not be God. Psalm 102:25–27 declares that the heavens will wear out like a garment, "but you are the same, and your years have no end." Malachi 3:6: "I the LORD do not change." James 1:17 names Him the Father of lights "with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." Hebrews 13:8: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
So Heraclitus needs a second sentence. Yes, the one constant in this world is change—but for those baptized into Christ, fear not, for you are held by the God who does not change.
Video citations
- 'Fear of Change" 1-19-25 — Would you open your Bibles please with me to Psalm 46, Psalm 46, if you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that great Psalm on page 480 in the Old Testament. Psalm 46 for…