Chad Bird’s thoughts on the second verse of the hymn Abide With Me so resonated with me that I asked his permission to repost them here:
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see:
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
“Change and decay in all around I see.” We sing this, we live it, and often we bleed and weep it.
- Families crumble, marriages decay, hopes of a bright future are eclipsed by disaster.
- People we thought we could trust stab us in the back.
- Bills rise while paychecks fall, stress skyrockets, and sleep evades us.
- Churches close, pastors weep in the dark, and our gasping faith struggles to survive.
In our world, metastasized with evil and injustice and malice, there is no end to the list of change and decay all around us—and within us.
So we cry, “O Thou who changest not, abide with me.” And he does. As close as the wetness of our tears. As near as the blood in our hearts. God with us, in us, above us, below us, as our brother, Jesus. He will hold us till the trembling stops. Heal us till the pain subsides. Love us till the tears dry.
He is the God who will never walk away. How could he? We are more precious to him than his own life. The cross trumpets forth this unchanging truth: that Jesus would rather die than lose us as his own.
Originally posted on Facebook, September 21, 2022. Copyright C 2022 by Chad Bird. Used by permission.
The verse at the top is from the hymn Abide With Me by Henry Francis Lyte.