How to Stay Grounded When Everything Changes 🌳⚓

Colossians 2:6-7

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

You don’t think much about the ground beneath your feet until it moves. 🌎

The moment it shifts, every instinct reaches for something solid. Suddenly, nothing matters more than finding a safe place to stand.

Sooner or later, the ground beneath every life moves. Jobs change. Families change. Churches change. Our bodies change. Plans fall apart. People we counted on may no longer be there.

If our stability depends on everything staying familiar, change will leave us anxious and off balance.

Colossians 2 doesn’t show us how to stop change. It shows us how to remain steady through it. 🙏

The believers in Colossae had received the gospel, but new voices were telling them they needed something beyond Christ. After reminding them of Christ’s supremacy and sufficiency, Paul told them how to respond. Since they had received Christ as Lord, they needed to keep walking in him.

So how can we stay grounded when everything around us is changing?

We stay grounded by walking in Christ, growing deeper in our faith, and overflowing with gratitude. 👣🌱❤️

1. Keep Walking in Christ 👣

Paul begins:

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.”

The word “received” means to welcome and take hold of what has been given. The Colossians hadn’t merely accepted some religious ideas. They had received a person: “Christ Jesus the Lord.”

That full title matters.

He is the promised Christ, the saving Jesus, and the ruling Lord. 👑

We don’t receive Jesus as Savior and then live as though we’re our own lord. The One who saves us is also the One who leads us.

Notice how Paul connects two phrases: “As ye have received” and “so walk.” We receive Christ by faith, and we continue with Christ by faith. We begin by depending on his grace, and we grow by continuing to depend on that same grace.

The Christian life isn’t Jesus getting us started so we can take it from there. It’s Jesus saving us and sustaining us every step of the way. ✝️

In Scripture, “walk” describes the everyday direction of a person’s life. It includes our habits, choices, priorities, and relationships. Paul had already prayed that the Colossians would:

“Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.”
Colossians 1:10

Most Christian growth happens through ordinary, daily steps of obedience. We may not know everything that lies ahead, but we can still take the next step with Christ. 🚶

Think about marriage. A wedding is a decisive moment, but it isn’t the whole marriage. The vows begin a lifetime of walking together through changing seasons. 💍

You don’t honor your wedding vows simply by remembering the day you made them. In the same way, we don’t merely look back to the day we received Christ. We keep walking with him today.

The answer to a changing world isn’t a different Christ. It’s a closer walk with the Christ we already know.

Ask yourself: What change do I keep replaying in my mind until it becomes louder than the voice of Christ? 🤔

For the next seven mornings, name that situation to Jesus and ask, “What would walking with you look like today?” Then take one clear step of obedience before the day ends. ✅

Walking with Christ gives our lives direction, but standing firm also requires depth.

2. Grow Deeper in Your Faith 🌱

Paul continues:

“Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught.”

“Rooted” is an agricultural word. It pictures a plant sending its roots deep into nourishing soil. Paul describes believers as people who have been planted in Christ and remain rooted in him.

Roots are hidden, but their strength becomes visible when the weather changes. 🌳

A tree doesn’t develop its roots during the storm. The storm reveals the roots it developed beforehand. ⛈️

Paul uses similar language in Ephesians 3:17:

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love…”

If our roots are in comfort, success, people, or familiar circumstances, change can pull us apart. But when our roots are in Christ, circumstances may shake us without uprooting us.

Paul then moves from a plant to a building: “rooted and built up in him.” 🧱

“Built up” describes an ongoing process. We have been rooted in Christ, but we’re still being built by Christ.

Being grounded doesn’t mean we stop growing. Stability isn’t stagnation. Grounded believers keep growing.

First Corinthians 3:11 says:

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Christ is both the soil in which we’re rooted and the foundation upon which we’re built. We don’t build our lives on trends, personalities, or changing opinions. We build on Christ. 🏠

Paul also says that believers are to be “stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught.”

“Stablished” means to be made firm, confirmed, or strengthened. “The faith” refers to the truth about Christ that the Colossians had received through faithful teaching. 📖

Not every kind of change is growth. A building can get larger while becoming less stable. Spiritual growth must remain anchored to biblical truth.

The Colossians weren’t free to reinvent the gospel whenever a persuasive new teacher appeared. They had to measure every new idea against the truth they had already received.

Notice that Paul’s words are plural. He’s speaking to the whole church. We’re rooted in Christ personally, but we’re built up together. God often uses his Word and his people to keep us steady. 🤝⛪

Ask yourself: When life starts shaking, do I allow trusted people to help steady me in God’s truth, or do I pull away and pretend I’m fine?

Before this week ends, speak honestly with one spiritually mature person you trust. Tell them what’s unsettling you and ask them to help you identify one biblical truth upon which you can stand. 💬

If we want a faith that stands when life shakes, we must deepen our roots before the storm arrives.

Deep roots don’t just keep us standing. They also shape what comes out of us.

3. Let Gratitude Overflow 🙏❤️

Paul closes this sentence with the words:

“Abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

“Abounding” means to exceed the ordinary measure, to overflow, or to have more than enough.

Paul isn’t describing someone who occasionally remembers to say thank you. He pictures gratitude spilling out of a heart that recognizes everything it has received in Christ. 🥤

Gratitude isn’t an accessory to spiritual maturity. It’s one of its clearest signs.

The false teaching at Colossae suggested that Christ wasn’t enough. Paul answered that claim a few verses later:

“And ye are complete in him.”
Colossians 2:10

False teaching often begins by making us feel that we’re missing something Christ cannot provide. Thanksgiving pushes back against that lie.

Gratitude says, “In Christ, I have received what matters most.” ❤️

A dissatisfied heart is always searching for the next thing. A thankful heart remembers the sufficiency of Christ.

Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:18:

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Thanksgiving doesn’t mean pretending that change isn’t painful. It means recognizing that even when our circumstances change, Christ has not.

A grounded person can grieve and still give thanks. A grounded person can face uncertainty and still give thanks. Our gratitude isn’t based on everything going our way. It’s based on belonging to Christ. 🙌

Think about a cup filled to the brim. When someone bumps it, whatever is inside spills out. The bump doesn’t create the contents. It reveals them.

Change bumps all of us.

When our hearts are filled with gratitude for Christ, thanksgiving can spill out even when life doesn’t go according to plan. 🫗

Ask yourself: If someone listened to me this past week, would they hear more about everything going wrong or about the ways Christ is still faithful? 👂

For the next seven evenings, name one thing that has changed. Then thank Christ aloud for one thing that change cannot take away. 🙏

Gratitude steadies the heart because it keeps reminding us that even when life changes, Christ is still enough.

Stay Anchored ⚓🌊

An anchor doesn’t stop the wind. It doesn’t calm the waves, and it doesn’t keep the boat from moving.

The boat may rise, fall, and turn with the storm, but the anchor keeps it from drifting away.

That’s what it means to be grounded in Christ.

It doesn’t mean that change will never affect us. It means that change doesn’t get to carry us away. Christ holds us steady while everything around us moves. ⚓

So keep walking with the Christ you received. 👣

Keep growing deeper in the faith you were taught. 🌱

Keep thanking him for what the storm cannot take away. 🙏

The goal isn’t to escape every storm. The goal is to remain anchored when it comes.

Name the change that has been shaking you and place it back into Christ’s hands. Then make this your daily prayer:

“Jesus, help me walk with you, stand firm in your truth, and thank you for what change cannot take away.”

But we cannot walk in Christ until we have first received Christ.

Maybe you’ve been trying to build your life on success, relationships, religion, or your own ability to remain in control. None of those foundations can hold you forever.

The good news is that Jesus Christ came for you. ❤️✝️

He lived the life you could not live, died on the cross for your sins, and rose from the grave. He offers forgiveness and new life, not as something you earn, but as a gift you receive. 🎁

Turn from your sin and place your trust in Jesus Christ. Receive him not merely as someone who can improve your circumstances, but as your Savior and Lord.

Everything around you may change.

Jesus Christ will not. 🙌

Receive him. Walk in him. Grow in him. Let your life overflow with gratitude. 👣🌳🙏

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