Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17, KJV

In a chaotic world that is constantly changing, nothing can be more comforting than to know there is a God who never changes and to have a secure relationship with Him. Change always seems to be threatening to us—whether it is encountered by a child who graduates from elementary school where he has been the king of the hill and has to go to a school where older children intimidate the new arrivals, or the aged pensioner who has to leave the home where she has lived for 80 years to take up residence in a care facility.

There is one, however, who never changes, and that thought both blesses and terrifies.  The Bible tells us that God is unchanging. If you are God’s child, that thought should bring great comfort to your heart. 

No one in his right mind would deny the fact that our generation has seen more changes in a given period of time than any other generation in all history.  Ask your grandfather about his world growing up, about the medicines which were prescribed in his childhood, about the length of time it took to go somewhere or do something.

We change, too—so very quickly.  The glow of a woman’s beauty passes as does the strength of the man who wooed and won her hand.  I couldn’t help thinking of how quickly we change in appearance, following an invitation by a former classmate to speak in his church.  As I deplaned, I looked for my friend expecting to see someone much as I had remembered him. As people left the boarding area, a lone figure stood there—balding and paunchy.  His eyes squinted as did mine as I asked myself, “could this possibly be Ed?’  It was. Neither of us recognized the other. We all change. The beauty of youth yields to the aging of the years. Seasons change, nations rise and fall, and men rise to power and fall aside, while God remains the same.

God Himself said, “I am the LORD; I change not” (Malachi 3:6). The Bible says He is the Father of lights with whom there is no change or variation (James 1:17). This means God will never be less than He is now, or ever be different from what He has already revealed Himself to be in the past. His essential being (we call those characteristics attributes) are always the same. This includes the fact that He is without beginning or end. He is not only unchanging, but is just, all-knowing, all-powerful, ever present, holy, faithful and loving. God is also unchanging in His faithfulness to us, in His wisdom and in His counsel.

In an old song, seldom heard today, written by Thomas Chisholm, there is a line which goes, “Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not; as thou hast been thou forever wilt be.”

As A. W. Tozer wrote, “God never changes moods or cools off in His affections or loses enthusiasm.  His attitude toward sin is now the same as it was when He drove out the sinful man from the eastward garden, and His attitude toward the sinner the same as when He stretched forth His hand and cried, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest'” (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, p. 60).

At the beginning of today’s devotional, I mentioned that the unchanging nature of God is both a bane and a blessing. For those who reject the Father’s love, the die is cast, the script is written, but for those who love Him, it is a blessing supreme.

No wonder the songwriter, Henry Lyte, wrote, “Change and decay in all around I see; O, Thou who changest not, abide with me.” Yes, abide with me.

 

Resource reading: Psalm 90:1-17