While cleaning our house recently, I was keenly reminded of a vital spiritual truth: God never changes, though my emotions do. Have you ever had a bad day? A good day? A mediocre day? What does it imply for us to qualify any given day by a description that is usually tied closely to our emotional state? For example, while enduring an incredibly minor inconvenience, I realized how quickly I can become irritated by circumstances. In that very moment, God brought to mind James 1:2-4 (NIV), “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” The very thing that Satan would like to use to harass me is actually something God employs to help make me complete. God does not have “good” or “bad” days; He has created the whole concept of days and is continually in charge of them – with His glory as the end in mind.
Often we need to step back and realize that God’s plan for us never changes. He is in no way caught off guard by any component of our lives. In fact, He superintends all of our joys and trials to make us who we are supposed to be -“conformed to the likeness of His Son” (Romans 8:29, NIV).
We experience moments, hours, and days when we do not feel the presence or goodness of God, but this in no way changes the fact of His abiding love. We humans are fleeting, changeable, easily-confused, moody, and limited in our understanding. In fact, when compared to God, even the heavens and earth “will perish, but You [God] remain; and they all will become old like a garment, and like a mantle You will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end” (Hebrews 1:11-12, NASB).
Everything changes except God, who stands above all reality and takes control as He sees fit. His unchanging nature – His immutability – is our hope on “good” and “bad” days. Though we may be feeling discouraged, God is never thwarted. He is not downtrodden, because He is perfect and knows the supremacy of His plan; and even though He reigns, He has compassion on us in times of disappointment and grief. Psalm 103:13-14 (NIV) declares, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”
What spectacular news! God’s plan goes on no matter how dark the day or inconvenient the circumstances. We need not be overcome by the flood of emotions we experience as created beings. Instead, we need to remind ourselves of the eternal Word of God which boldly proclaims, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when the morning dawns” (Psalm 46:1-5, NASB).
Did you catch that phrase above, “though its waters roar and foam”? Sometimes that is how we imagine the flood of feelings that come against us – they roar and foam and threaten our demise. No way, however, will they be our undoing! God is always present and in the midst of our emotions; He cannot be moved. Cling to God, stand on His truth, and remember Who He is. Our God is both unchanging and unchangeable. He cannot change and He will not be changed by anyone or anything. On good days and bad days and every moment in between, our God stands ready to roll up the heavens and earth like a garment in order to usher in His perfect kingdom where we will finally see that He had it under control all along.