The times are certainly changing!  The fall season is upon us.  Vacations are over.  Children are back in school.  The days are shorter, the temps cooler, the rains have returned in Washington, and the leaves are turning.

Fall is certainly a season of dramatic change.  But then we’ve been enduring almost constant change for the past year-and-a-half!

When I was younger, I used to hope that there would be a time in my life when everything would be finally settled, and changes would be behind me.  The concept is appealing … but unrealistic.  There will never be a time when something in our lives isn’t changing.  If you’ve lived a bit, you know this to be true.

But there actually is something that never changes.  (And I’m not referring to death, jobs to do, or taxes!)  The one thing that never changes, that is always the same, is the Lord. 

The Bible informs us that “God, who is enthroned from of old, does not change” (Psalm 55:19).  Furthermore, “the [Heavenly] Father … does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17), and “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). 

The fact that our God doesn’t change, and isn’t changing, and won’t change is incredibly comforting at a time of incredible change – whether that time of change is the fall season or a pandemic or something else altogether.  Though everything in our lives and in the world seems to be in continual flux, God is not! 

And since God is immutable (unchanging), then his “purpose” remains “unchanging” as well! (Hebrews 6:17).  In the same way, his promises won’t change either (Numbers 23:19), and his words are eternally true (Luke 21:33).  Jesus’ redemption of us and his resurrection are also unchanging facts.  As are his love for us, his care, provision and protection of us, and his presence with us.  Best of all, the Lord still has a special home prepared for his children in heaven.  These wonderful truths all remain unchanging!

The Lord’s attributes (characteristics) don’t change either.  The eternal God will always be eternal, and the almighty God always almighty.  He will always be present everywhere; always all-knowing; constantly good; continually faithful; forever merciful, gracious, loving and forgiving.  None of God’s characteristics have ever shifted; nor will they.

Change is constant in our lives.  Some are temporary and cyclical; others are radical, life altering, eye-opening, and unforgettable.  In this constantly changing world, we need some stability.  Thankfully, we have it in our unchanging God.

Everything God has been, he still is, and he always will be.  He is the always-the-same God, the Lord who never changes.  And that’s wonderful news for us who are living ever-changing lives in an ever-changing world!