When Old Faithful Isn’t

There was a bothersome headline a while back from the USA Today, “Old Faithful Gets Fickle.” What? The famous geyser in Yellowstone National Park was not as faithful as it once was. The 140 foot tower of steam erupted faithfully about every 66 minutes, but something was not right as the report continued.
The eruption could be predicted for 12:11 p.m. But it didn’t occur until 12:18 p.m. The one predicted for 2:46 p.m. jumped the gun at 2:38 p.m. The problem was that underground shifts by minor earthquakes occurred, plus vandalism by visitors. The “Tommy Tourists” would come by and throw things into the geyser’s hole, from chicken bones to underwear. What?
Most of us have had something or someone that was kind of our “Old Faithful”, but they became “Old Unpredictable.” It might have been a job that you used to have and depended upon for a long time. Or it could have been a mate that took off and left you holding air and nothing but hopelessness. Maybe it was your parents’ marriage that hurt you deeply that caused a rift for your growing up days.
Maybe your church or your spiritual leaders have let you down and they were once your “Old Faithful.” It hurts when an “Old Faithful” isn’t anymore. It leaves us disoriented, and afraid, and even unsure of ourselves or unsure of others. Our future can seem so drear and so uncertain. But don’t let it bring you down. While others let you down, you don’t have to go down.
Remember this for today. Jeremiah says, “I remember my afflictions and wandering, the bitterness and the gall, I well remember them and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail, they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him” (Lam. 3:19).

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