The LORD Who Does Not Change

Things change. People change. Circumstances change. If you were wearing a mood ring, it could change while you were reading this blog post. The point is that change is often inevitable. Some change is good. Some change...not so good. However, in this ever changing world, there is one constant. The Lord DOES NOT CHANGE.

I was hit with this awareness once again this morning while scrolling through social media. I came across a memory on someone's page that was full of praise for an individual. Thanking them for the way they convey truth. Grateful and excited about all the Lord was going to do in them and the church they attended. Appreciative of the way in which the nature of God was articulated. The only problem: THAT WAS LAST YEAR. A lot has "changed" since then. Not necessarily in the person who was being praised, but in the one who was giving the praise. As I thought about this, I was immediately reminded of Malachi 3:6, "I am the LORD. I change not."

We have to be reminded of this from time to time. We need our memory to be re-awakened to this truth. God doesn't change. Which is a remarkable statement since most of us consider the God of the Old Testament to be so drastically different from the God of the New. That somehow Jesus was introducing us to a new God. When the reality is that Jesus was demonstrating who the Father truly was.

I appreciate the fact that God doesn't change. I don't need Him to.
When you come to understand the goodness of God. When you experience the unconditional love of your Heavenly Father. When you learn what it means to live by His grace and power. Why would we ever want Him to change?

The fact that God does not change should give us incredible security. To know that He is so drastically different than the people we encounter. To realize that what the Father feels towards you today is what He will feel towards you tomorrow. These are truths that you can build your life upon. I, for one, am grateful that I didn't have to get up this morning and make a sacrifice to the sun god to make sure that the sun would shine. I didn't have to burn incense to appease the wind god so that we would experience hurricane force winds today. You didn't have to sacrifice a child to ensure that your home didn't burn down, or to keep an angry god happy. NO! God didn't change this morning. And He never will.

Hebrews says of Jesus that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. While we may struggle to be the same from one day to the next, the Godhead has got this consistency thing down. Their mood doesn't fluctuate. They are not happy one minute then angry the next. They have always been, and always will be, consistent in their nature. They don't wake up one morning and decide to pick on you. They don't look at your behavior one day and then determine to take their love off of you. The remain steadfast in their nature.

While this should create an enormous amount of peace within people, I have come across some who struggle to believe this truth. Almost always citing the Old Testament as an example, they keep waiting for God to change faces. They keep looking for a catastrophic event that will be a sure sign that we have finally ticked God off enough. Not realizing that the Father has dealt with our sins long ago. Missing out on the reality that God made Jesus to be sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him. Forgetting that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. And simply waits for us (as any good Father would) to be reconciled in our own thinking towards Him.

A God who doesn't change was drastically different to the gods of other nations. Just think about Roman and Greek mythology for a moment. The gods couldn't be trusted. You might be able to appease them for a day, but it was no guarantee that tomorrow would be the same. They were fickle. In a constant state of frustration. Known for fits of rage. In those two religious systems alone we discover what a god made in our image looks and acts like. This is not Jehovah. This is not the Abba of Jesus. The reason the writers of Hebrews could say that Jesus was the same yesterday, today, and forever, is because that is exactly the way His Father is. And by the way, the same way the Holy Spirit is today.

Take comfort in knowing that the Lord does not change. Regardless of your circumstances. Trust in Him with all your heart. Lean not unto your own understanding. Rest in His unchangeable nature.