God is Unchanging and We Often Need Changing

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Malachi 3:6, ” For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. “

Background

I have heard it said of various places that if you are there and don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes, and it will change. That is what weather does. It changes. When you haven’t seen someone in a while, the typical responses upon meeting them again are either, ” My, how you’ve changed, ” or ” You haven’t changed a bit. ” Many of us return for class reunions with the primary intent of seeing how different everyone looks from when you went to school together. We drive by our old homesteads to see how the old neighborhood looks now. We like to see what the color of our childhood home is, or how big the trees are now, or how small our yard is that used to seem so huge. Our tastes change from year to year. Our moods can change instantly. We can seemingly trace the course of our lives by the changes that have occurred. And even when change seems uncomfortable, it most likely brings with it a freshness and a renewed passion or purpose. Few of us truly desire the monotony of constant sameness day after day. Even those slaves to routine eventually need a break. The hope that accompanies change seems to somehow sustain us in a real, positive way.

Application

But when it comes to the Lord, He does not change. Can you get your mind around that reality? From eternity past, the Trinity has not changed. Even as God made our world, watched Adam choose sin, destroyed it by a flood, dwelt near and far from His chosen people, and Jesus became a man to die and rise again, He did not change. Not from heaven to a manger, from a baby to an adult, from the cross to the grave. As His hair got longer and His voice deeper, as He trained to be a carpenter and then trained others to fish for men, He did not change. And that is what actually sustains us. He can be with us when we’re on top, and He stays right beside us when we are low. He is the fixed point that goes anywhere. He is the rock that is full of compassion. He is the timeless one who is full of patience. So thank Him for not changing, and for the changes He has made in you.

Charge

As we seek Him today, reflect on what has and has not changed in your life. Pray for both consistency where you are not consistent, and change where that is needed, too.