When so much changes, We cling to Him who doesn’t
Number 23:19— God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
2020 began much like any other year for most of us, making plans for another year. Some saw hospital stays as the year began, others were married, and others still celebrated pregnancies. Early on we heard rumblings of a disease, but it was far away. I’m sure we all figured it would be much the same as those in the past—isolated, localized, not impacting our lives. Then so much changed.
In a time when so much continues to change…in a time when mere mortals continue to reveal their unreliability…how important it is for us to cling to him who does not change.
Through two-faced Balaam, God spoke this comforting truth: God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
God’s questions are, of course, rhetorical. God always acts according to his words and promises. Every page of Scripture is proof of this. Before the world even began, God made a plan—a plan to rescue you from this sin-darkened world which changes as much as it stays the same because of our sinful human race.
Human hearts may have thought otherwise in the days before the Flood, but God kept his promise to Noah and his family. Human hearts may have thought otherwise through decades of barrenness, but God kept his promise to Abraham and Sarah. Human hearts may have thought otherwise as days of favor turned to days of fear and slavery in Egypt, but God kept his promise to Jacob to bring his family back to the Promised Land. Human hearts may have thought otherwise as they were marched off to Babylon, but three generations later God kept his promise and again returned his people to the Promised Land. Human hearts may have thought otherwise as the Romans ruled and the Savior seemed a fantasy, but God kept his promise born of a Davidic virgin in Bethlehem. Human hearts may have thought otherwise as they huddled in secret for fear of the Jews, but God kept his promise by walking right through the stone wall of a sealed tomb and a few hours later the locked doors of a house hideaway.
Your God does not change. His promises of love, forgiveness, care, and deliverance can never be broken. In a time when so much is changing, cling to Him who does not change.