It is a wonderful truth that our God is an unchanging God. The Apostle James tells us that ‘every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17. We know that when something is lit up by the sun, its appearance and shape can change significantly according to the direction and height of the light. Well God isn’t like that, He is who He is, consistently and unchangeably.
The writer to the Hebrews speaks of Jesus unchanging nature both before coming to earth, while on earth and now in heaven praying for us. ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever’. Hebrews 13:8. This is such good news and not something that we should take for granted. It means that without fail, every morning when we wake up our wonderful God is there to meet us with new mercy and fresh love and faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22,23.
I guess in the human arena we have all been let down at some point in our lives by other people, and if we’re honest we have been ‘changeable’ in our turn towards others. Our human changeableness can range from being fickle, to saying we will do something and then not, right through to letting someone down in a significant manner, or even to deceiving and betraying someone.
The human condition is not one of consistency, and so sometimes when things don’t go the way we expected, or the way we think they should in our life journey with God, we get disappointed with Him and project onto Him our human frailty. We may believe He has let us down, and we can even lose faith.
Joseph, was a man of vision, he’d had a dream, and in those days the expectation would have been that this was God talking to him, which is probably why his family were so angry with him. He believed that the dream was God telling him of his future leadership over his family, and he probably presumed that what he had dreamed would take place, sooner if not before.
It must have seemed to Joseph that God had changed His mind and let him down badly as he found himself first of all kidnapped, then left to die, sold as a slave, accused of attempted rape, thrown in prison and then disappointed by a ‘friend’ who he hoped would help him get out of prison, but who didn’t take the opportunity to help after getting back into Pharoahs’ service. We can read the whole story in Genesis 37-47.
Right at the end of the story, Josephs’ brothers come to him; they are afraid because their father Jacob has died, and they are fearful that Joseph will take his moment and get his revenge. Josephs answer stands as an encouragement to us all, for all time, He says ‘”Don’t be afraid, you intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children”. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them’. Genesis 50:15-21. It would appear that through all the trauma, Joseph realised that the one person in His life who had not betrayed Him or let him down was God. The dream had reached its fulfillment.
So remember today that God is an unchanging Father, and if there are some doubts and questions in your mind about Gods faithfulness, or it feels as if God has let you down in some way, remember Joseph, and believe that our unchanging God is working out His plans and purposes, even though you don’t understand Him.
Spend time today thanking Him for His goodness, His love, and most of all for His unchangeablness. His intention towards you is to complete what he has begun in you. Join the psalmist in declaring ‘The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; your love O Lord endures forever-do not abandon the work of your hands’. Psalm 138:8.
