Unchanging

The only constant is change.

If I had a quarter for every time I heard or used that expression during my corporate career, well…I’d have a whole lot of quarters! When things weren’t in a constant state of flux, we worried that we weren’t keeping pace with the competition and market demands. If it’s not changing, it’s stagnating.

On a human level, there is truth in that idea. No change means no growth, no learning, no imagination, no innovation, no creativity, no diversity of thought, or new activities, and it can imply a lack of normalcy or health. Healthy things, including people, grow and change. Right?

People react differently to change. Some relish it and find change invigorating; they flourish in an ever-changing environment. For others, constant change creates anxiety, uncertainty, insecurity, and instability. Still, others dig in their heels, refuse to adapt, or accept change, and often find themselves left behind and embittered by the change that forces its way into their circumstances.

How do you deal with the changes you face in your life?

There are many factors that impact the way you respond to change, but these are a few of my general observations:

– the specific nature of the change influences your response,

– the more traumatic the change, the more dramatic the reaction,

– a minor change should prompt only minor aggravation and reasonable response,

– the number of changes that occur at the same time or within a limited timeframe will generally compound your reaction as change piles upon change,

– finally, the state of your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health plays an enormous role in how you deal with change.

If you’ve read even a few of my previous blogs, you know that the focus of the remainder of this message is going to be on the importance of your spiritual health. It is the underpinning of your life view; it will determine how you respond to every change that life may throw at you – the good, bad, and ugly.

When your life view is based on the truth of Scripture and its Unchanging Author, that will be the lens through which you will see every change that you encounter.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 NIV

Unchanging Author. GOD Almighty. Think about that for a moment. GOD does not change. Yesterday, today, forever – HE is the same. HE is always 100% Himself. Perfectly holy, righteous, just, merciful, loving – all that HE is, HE is all the time.

All that HE is,

HE IS all the time.

You never have to hope that you catch GOD on a “good” day, HE is always perfectly good.

Nothing – No Thing – ever catches GOD off guard or surprises Him or causes Him to change.

“GOD is not man, that HE should lie, or a son of man, that HE should change His mind. Has HE said, and will HE not do it? Or has HE spoken, and will HE not fulfill it?” Numbers 23:19

GOD never says, “Well, I didn’t expect that.” Whether it’s the invasion of a small country by a corrupt world power, a global pandemic, a once “Christian” nation rejecting truth to follow lies, political scandals, lawlessness in major cities, death of a loved one, divorce, or a cancer diagnosis, none of these “changes” surprise GOD.

These unanticipated changes (to us) were known to GOD before the beginning of time. These unpleasant surprises (to us) are somehow working together in GOD’s ultimate plan for His Creation’s redemption and for our good.

These and other things we see as potentially cataclysmic changes to our way of life are known to GOD. There is not one surprise in the mix.

You never have to worry that “out of sight, is out of mind” with GOD. You are never out of His sight. You are always in His mind. You are always in His heart and in His hands.

I find great comfort and peace in this knowledge. Knowing that my GOD never changes, He is always constant, and He never lies – in fact, He cannot lie. He is perfectly good, just, righteous, holy, merciful, gracious, and so much more always and in all things. This knowledge gives me great confidence in how I face life and its many changes – good, bad, and even the ugly.

“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe You will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.” Hebrews 1:10-12

Even though I don’t know what the changes will bring, GOD knows, and HE is trustworthy in all things. I am His and HE is mine. I can rely on Him to guard my heart and guide my steps. No matter what changes may come, I can rest in Him, knowing that HE is perfectly GOD and perfectly good. HE is my GOD, and I am His.

That, my friend, changes everything.

“Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, HE confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Hebrews 6:17-19 NIV