by Rob Globke
A guy by the name of François de La Rochefoucauld was quoted as saying, “The only thing constant in life is change.” Now, if we look around at the world around us, we would all probably nod our heads in agreement. The world we know is nothing but constant change. Every second, every minute, every day. At any given time, we may be getting older, hungrier, wiser, stronger, weaker, or a million other things. We both change and witness change as human beings. And, even if we don’t think we change all that much, just ask someone who hasn’t seen you in 5 years. They will definitely say you have changed! (good or bad is not my call) :-)
All we know, our experiences, and our surroundings is changing. It would seem like change is indeed a constant thing in life.
But, then we read verses like this...
- “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” - Malachi 3:6
- “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” - Hebrews 13:8
So then, we have to ask ourselves, “Which is it?” Does everything change, or is there something that is constant? Since I believe in what the Bible says as being true, I would side with the idea that God does not change.
Now, this is hard for us to wrap our minds around because we only know change. We can’t fully comprehend what it means to never change, but we do know that:
- God can’t be added to or subtracted from….He is completely perfect and can’t become worse or better because He is already the best He can be.
- God is always consistent….He doesn’t have an “off” day.
- God will always act the same….He doesn’t treat us differently today than He would 50 years from now.
- God’s nature never changes…..He will always be loving, kind, just, true, all knowing, present, so forth and so on.
- God’s will does not change….He doesn’t change His mind. Once He has a plan it will be carried forth without change.
When you look at the small list above, it’s pretty amazing. But, if you’re anything like me, you probably are still wondering why any of this matters. So what? God is unchanging, but I still live in a world which changes all the time. I don’t see why it really matters. Well, let’s take a look at a few things to try and show you how God’s immutability makes a difference in our life. We will use hockey examples...cause we’re hockey people after all!
Hope
One reason why it’s important God does not change is because we can have hope in what He promises. We have all had experiences with people who sometimes break their promise or change their mind. It’s not fun. Perhaps it’s a coach who says you will get more ice time, but never follows through. Or, maybe it’s a teammate who says they will promise to pass the puck more, but never do. How about a GM (or coach) who says they are going to make you the team’s top line center, but then sign or draft two center’s who play over you. These are just some examples of broken promises.
But God is different! God will not change.
When God says He will be loving, kind, compassionate, just, and everything else, He will be. When God says that He will save all those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ, He will. God will not change His mind one day. You can count on that. When you feel hopeless when the world around you changes, you can have hope that God will not.
Reliability
A second reason why it’s important to know God does not change is because we have at least one thing we can rely on. How many times have you seen an NHL player try to take a big one timer only to have their stick shatter? Perhaps not a lot, but enough to create that slightest bit of doubt in the back the mind…. “will my twig hold up this time?” Or, Can you remember a time when you your skates changed from being sharp to not so sharp? A few turns and you know you can’t fully rely on your edges. And even after you get them sharpened, the next time you go into a corner, you second guess yourself just a touch.
We can all relate to that feeling of mistrust. The feeling like we can’t rely on things because they never stay exactly the same. But God is different!
God will not change. No matter the day, the time, the year, the weather, the situation, anything; God will be someone you can rely on. He will be there when you need Him to be. You can have faith that He will treat you the same each and every time you go to Him. I don’t know about you, but this is a big time relief. We don’t have to think, “Well, let me just see if God got up on the right side of the bed today before I ask Him about something.” We will never have to say, “God has changed so much since we last talked. I don’t think He could handle this question anymore, He’s just too old school.” This will never happen. God is reliable. He doesn’t change. Never.
Our great hope is not that God will change, but that we will be changed by the ever reliable unchanging God Almighty.
