(Photo by Selma Komisky)

Resting in my Faith in An Ever-Changing World

By Ashley Gomez

Perhaps I am a part of a generation that has grown up experiencing consistent change. But, I would not say that’s a bad thing. I was born in the 90’s, and grew up in the 2000’s. This has let me experience enough change in the last 22 years that most people experience in their entire lifetime. The changes within our society and culture can speak for themselves. Within the last twenty years the amount of change that has occurred is unbelievable. With various political and social issues overtaking the news, as well as triumphant leaps forward in technologies and sciences, we certainly live in an exciting time. Now, this may seem daunting to some, but enticing to others. The question most of us find ourselves asking is does what is happening concern us, or does it make us curious? Whichever end of the spectrum you find yourself on is completely dependent on you and where your beliefs lie. But, if you have doubts and don’t know where to turn that’s okay. With the various stories and headlines in the news, I find myself asking which end of the spectrum I fall. Searching for that answer has not been easy. Sometimes my own personal issues and challenges come first and I am not aware of the things that go on around me, which I think happens to all of us to a certain extent. The thing I know that keeps me grounded is my faith.

We live in a time where the future is uncertain; the unknowns of the future scare us because of what has happened before and the inevitability of it happening again. One event I can think of that emulates this idea is what happened on 9/11/2001. Every American knows this day as the day when America was exposed as vulnerable to those who wish to do us harm. This vulnerability scared Americans and left them with the question “where will that happen next?” This question is daunting, and can leave one with a feeling of helplessness. But this feeling of helplessness is more often followed with acts of courage than no acts at all. This reminds me of David and how he stood up to face Goliath in order for the Philistines to flee. The Lord gave David his courage and in a similar way He gives us an opportunity to be courageous and trust that God will ease our worries as we rest in Him.

Another example of the amount of change we have seen within our society is that of technology, and although this is not as heavy of a topic as the one I just described, it has affected us all. This alone has caused obvious leaps forwards and backwards. For my generation in particular, we have been able to go from reading physical books to having the convenience of online digital books. We have the privilege of being a generation where we experienced the more traditional ways of learning and therefore encouraged and set our own learning curves. This current generation that is growing up has everything they could ever want to know at their fingertips. This can be seen as either a positive thing or a negative thing, but only time will tell. With this ever changing and advancing technology, the generation I am a part of stands in a unique position and has the ability to influence the current generation and where they will take society.

There is without a doubt endless changes occurring within societies, around the world – and even through this, one thing we must stay true to is the faith on which we continuously lean, live and love. Change in our time can be scary and uncertain, but we must remember we have the ability to lean on our faith and adjust to what is going on around us, so we can share the word of God with those around us.

Isaiah 43:19 says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”