I had a deep conversation with a Christian friend, and she was having a hard time understanding why life is so challenging for really nice people. On the other hand, there are those who don’t mind trampling over others in order to get what they want, and they seem to never have a worry. This friend is notoriously thoughtful and endeavors to be dedicated to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, but she felt that she might not ever get to enjoy a season of success and peace. She said that every time she begins to feel confident things might work out, something happens to ruin them. She wonders if this is just what believers must endure. Many of us have felt this way, but for me, my grandmother’s wisdom puts it all in perspective. She’s from the south and says that life will put a mean whippin’ on you if you don’t learn to whip it. In effect, my grandmother’s warning means that all of us have something in our lives we’re supposed to get straight. If we miss it, life can begin to feel like a series of mishaps and mistakes, and it can feel this way to even those who’ve been on this Christian journey a while.
In Malachi 3:6(NLT), Heavenly Father speaks to His people through the prophet, Malachi. He tells them, “I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.” This is an extremely straightforward, plain, and poignant declaration from our God. He distinguishes Himself in an undeniable way. He’s not like us, a people who vacillate constantly, run hot one minute and cold the next. Conditions and circumstances do not cause God to change His nature. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Sometimes, when things don’t go the way we expect, some of us will assume that God has changed His plans. This is an incorrect assumption. Again, He doesn’t change, but very often, you and I either become sidetracked by a distraction, OR we neglect to do as Romans 12:2 tells us, which is to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
In Galatians 6:14-16, the Apostle Paul tells us that nothing is worth boasting about EXCEPT the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ. It is because of what the Master achieved on the Cross that we are set free. In the old life, the life we lived before we knew Christ, we used to drive ourselves nuts trying to please other people; trying to accomplish lofty goals that have no heavenly purpose, and trying to fit into the standards that society sets about who is important and who isn’t. Heavenly Father called us out of that corrupt system, and He has set us apart to be His kids. We are a set-apart people! Many of those living in Paul’s time were the same elitist, discriminatory, arrogant types we see today. Being circumcised was a practice they used to call themselves ‘upper echelon’ and to stamp others as ‘scum of the earth’. Paul tells us that it isn’t about what we do, submit to circumcision or reject it; submit society’s standards or reject them. It’s about GOD!
It is forever and always about what God is doing. You might ask, “Well, what IS God doing?” The answer is that He’s doing something new in YOU! His plan for you is the same today as it was before He created the earth you stand on. Ephesians 1:4 tells us that He predestined and chose us in Him even before the foundation of the world, so we can be His holy people. Our Father doesn’t deal in crooked paths. He tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6 to trust in Him with all our hearts and don’t walk around thinking we know everything because we don’t. He commands us to acknowledge Him in ALL our ways, and He will make our paths straight.
So life wasn’t created to keep us constantly encapsulated in a yo-yo syndrome. Our Heavenly Father is a God of peace. When life seems a mess, and we feel as though we can’t catch a break, it’s proof positive that it’s time to switch gears and move out of the lane we’re in. We don’t have to know all the details of where we’re going. If we did, we’d start to lean on our own understanding and get ourselves into a mess again. We must trust God unwaveringly. We must be fully persuaded in His goodness, sold-out to His Word, and committed to trust Him as He makes our crooked paths straight.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“God Does Not Change”, written for victoryinjesuschrist.life© 2019. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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