On the weekend, a teenage boy was brutally stabbed to death in our community. These things happen all over the world, even in the best of neighborhoods.
Still, when it happens, it changes us, and our world seems a little colder and less safe. I can think of many events, large and small, that changed the world around us.
There were the events of September 11 more than two decades ago. More recently, we experienced the COVID pandemic.
Thinking back, I can recall the Berlin Wall, which had been erected when I was a small child, being torn down, and a divided country was restored.
I remember vividly driving home from work one day and hearing the live reports of the attack on Baghdad by Allied Forces. Operation Desert Storm was underway. Would it escalate? Would we be recalled to the military? The world had changed.
I’m old enough to recall the Killing Fields of Cambodia, the US withdrawal from Vietnam, the moon landing, the assassination of John Kennedy, and more. All changed the world, and many changed even our vocabulary.
Some would change the world as we know it and be known by many. Others were relatively minor but change the lives of those involved.
In 1991, Kathy and I sustained traumatic brain injuries. The world moved on as before for almost everyone. Our lives were forever changed. It’s impossible to list all the changes, both positive and negative, but we rejoice that in the resulting turmoil we came to faith in Jesus..
Change is a fact of life for everyone. It may be sudden and traumatic, like some of the examples I have given. It might be slow, like the changing of the seasons, or even slower, like the gradual erosion of a mountain face, but almost everything changes.
I say almost everything very deliberately. God never changes.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 ESV
God is immutable. That’s the fancy technical, theological term for the fact that He never changes.
If God could change, who can imagine the havoc that would ensue? We would never be able to trust in His promises or plan. If He were changeable, then He must not be perfect, and the thought of serving an imperfect God is terrifying.
There are some theological hills worth dying on, and the immutability of God is one. There are times in the Scripture where it appears from a human perspective that God changes His mind, but that can only be from a human perspective if God doesn’t change.
Whatever you are facing in life, you can hold fast to God. He will never change. His plans will never be thwarted. His promises will always come through.
I was going to say God’s promises are as good as money in the bank, but we all know that that has changed over time. There might be some degree of security in having your money in the bank, but ultimately, there is a risk of losing it. God’s promises are better than money in the bank.
Until next time, rejoice that God is who He claims to be and that He will never change.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
