God Is Unchangeable
“For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)
God is unchangeable. Or to use a theological term – God is immutable. Of all of God’s incommunicable attributes (those attributes unique to God alone), this particular one is lost on us today. Henry Lyte once penned, “Change and decay, all around I see.” Don’t we all see it? We do live in Mississippi where one Sunday can be a frigid 40 degrees and the next a sweltering 80. We’re now on the iPhone 14 where my grandmother had the same home phone for over a decade. Our childhood friends change their address either across the country or pass into glory. Add to this the rise of the internet, and we are now more familiar with change than any of our predecessors. We do not know what it means to be “unchangeable,” so let me spell it out.
For one, God is unchangeable in His person. If God could improve, if God could change for the better, God wouldn’t be perfect. This ties into God’s infinitude. God is infinite in every way. The infinite God never has a New Year’s Resolution to get in better shape. How does an infinitely strong, wise, and good God get better? He doesn’t! He’s unchangeable. But for two, God is unchangeable in His promises. Ephesians 1:11 says that God “works all things according to the counsel of his will.” Do you think that the unchangeable God who laid out this grand plan before the foundation of the world is going to come to a particular moment in your life and say, “Well, I didn’t think about that”? Do you think the unchangeable God whose very words formed all that we see will meet a crisis in your life and say, “Well, I don’t think I have enough juice in the tank for that”? Will the unchangeable God who loves you from everlasting to everlasting say, “I think I’ve had enough of him”? Of course not!
What does this matter? Too often, we pass the time pondering our problems. We see the shifting sands of time. We wonder over our own weakness and weariness. As Henry Lyte sang, “Change and decay, all around I see.” But how does he finish the song? “Oh, Thou who changest not, abide with me.” Herein lies the answer to our frequent bouts of despair. The seasons may change, our strength may fade, but our God cannot and does not change. His person does not change, His promises do not expire. God has no plan B. When the earth gives way, when the mountains are cast into the sea, the unchangeable God will be our very present help. Ponder this week on the unchangeableness of God and of His promises. Ponder how He has been faithful over generations. Trust in the unchangeable God.
