Anchored even in the ups and downs…

This day scrambled my thoughts. Family members arrive back from a holiday not knowing if recent storms and flash floods damaged their home. Last month fires threatened many areas. This time it is floods. Where I live, the weather changes so much that making outdoor plans is tentative at best.

As I read about the areas that were hit with extreme weather, another family member called to let us know her sister’s hubby had another stroke. Life changes in a moment.

In the larger world, a big nation attacks a small country again, this time the most severe effort in this ongoing battle. To the south, leadership decisions flip and flop and who knows what will happen next. 

But then there is God who managed to make my ‘verse for the day” be truly a verse for today:
“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed."  (Malachi 3:6)

Life is up/down, black/white, sane/crazy, normal/abnormal, but God remains the same. I did a word search in the NT for “same” and found these comforts…

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. . . . But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7; 24–25)

This God who is the same can take diversity in His people and composes everyone into a body that has the same goals and works in the same power. His Holy Spirit is our sameness, even as we are gifted differently and are not the same in other ways. Only God. 

His goal is that we become like Him, transformed into the same image as we gaze upon His glory:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Spending time with others who love Jesus, He encourages us when we share the same ideas and same goals. These are also from the One who never changes…

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. (Philippians 2:1–2)

Not only does our God remain the same, He encourages His people to be like Him in the way we related to one another. These truths are like an anchor, a shelter, a fortress even, in a world where change happens so rapidly that it makes me dizzy.

And, “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)

PRAY: In a day when I feel more scattered than usual, You give me a stable word for how I can think and act based on You, the One who is never scattered or fragmented by what You see in this messy place. You tell me: “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6) and for that, I am settled and calmed. Take my hand and keep me moving forward in knowing You are not like the world and You are definitely not the author of confusion but of peace  (1 Corinthians 14:33). Thank You for being my stability and peace.

Certain and Reliable!

 

Every day brings changes. Yesterday the governing body and the U.S. president changed. In many places the weather changed. Thousands moved from one house to another. Women changed the color of their hair. Nearly everyone changed their mind about something. Change is as certain as death and taxes.

Nelson Mandela once said, “One of the things I learnt when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others.” This is true of humans; we all need to change. But it is not true of God for He is perfect therefore changeless. How could I trust or worship a god who was different every day!

“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)

In this verse, CHANGE means to be or become different; undergo a transformation. The author may have been thinking about an OT prophet’s words that declare why God’s people rejoice that God never changes: “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)

This word for change is about undergoing a change or becoming different in nature, losing one’s original essence. Imagine the confusion if Almighty God was whimsical, continually different in thoughts and motivations. Could I rely on a supreme being that was totally unpredictable? Who promised to save me and the next day changed His mind?

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? Behold, I received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. (Numbers 23:19–20)

“The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind . . . .” (Psalm 110:4)

The Lord God does not change but He does make change happen. Daniel uses a word that describes His ability to make things different, to transform:

Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding . . . .” (Daniel 2:20–21)

The psalmist repeats that idea in praise: “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.” (Psalm 102:25–27)

The NT says the same thing with reassurance that God does not change His plan; I can trust Him to be the Giver of what is exactly good for me: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.“ (James 1:17)

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” I can trust God to be always sovereign, act always in wisdom, always be gracious and want the best for me, always love with His everlasting love, and always keep His promises. (Hebrews 13:8) Life and experiences are in constant flux yet God is a sure and certain anchor, a safe refuge and hiding place, a reliable God who keeps His promises. For me, this is assurance and peace.

Can I be like that? Not in this life. God is busy working all things together to transform me into the image of His Son, to renew my mind, to bring out the life of Christ that He has put in. Change is vital and inevitable for those who love Him — and that love is made possible because He is perfection and does not change.