No Changing

“God is not man, that He should lie,
or a son of man, that He should change His mind.
Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?”

—Numbers 23:19

Everything in our world is changing—there is nothing that is static. Whether it is the evolution of cars, computers, or cell phone technology, we are accustomed to change. Buildings are getting bigger while technology is getting smaller—ours is a world that is changing by the nanosecond. What used to take months or weeks can happen in seconds. And our world is getting smaller because of it—if I have a computer problem and call tech service, I don’t speak to someone down the street, but someone on the other side of the world. Athletes and celebrities in Hollywood are no longer just known in cities like Chicago or Dallas, but Kuala Lumpur and Addis Ababa. Cities are becoming larger and larger to the point where we no longer have megacities, but “metacities” that boast populations of 20 million or more, making New York City look small by comparison.

We are encountering new forms of communication, which enable us to be connected at all times with people all over the world. And with all of the advances of which we are beneficiaries, there are equally as many burdens. There are new and more convenient ways to sin than ever before, and all of the technology has given us the illusion that we are gods—with the ability to access personal and private information, to see what should not be seen, and to know what is going on anywhere in the world at anytime we want.

Strangely, while we are connected, we are also disconnected, fragmented, struggling with how to deal with what I will call “finite omniscience.” “Finite omniscience” means the limited ability to know everything at all times. “Finite” simply means limited, while “omniscience” means knowing everything there is. We have the appearance of power, but the inability to handle it. Although we have the capability to access whatever information we want through the Internet, our psyches and frailties cannot handle the knowledge and power that come with knowing what is going on everywhere and at all times. Consuming the vast amounts of information we have at our disposal is like trying to drink from a tsunami—we might get nourished by it, but we will get swept along and drowned in the process.

How do we respond to this tsunami of information? We must come to terms with our own finitude while resting in God’s immutability and immanence. “Immanence” is a term theologians use when understanding God’s ability to permanently sustain the universe. “Immutability” is the term used to describe God’s unchanging nature. While this universe will continue to change at an exponential rate, God does not and will never change; He is the same “yesterday and today and forever”—Hebrews 13:8. He will always love those who love Him. What He has decreed will happen. No evil will thwart His plans or purposes. All of man’s blasphemies and sins, whether public or private, will be dealt with accordingly. He is not threatened by our technological advances nor our access to information. He knows that we are living dust that is here for a little while, and like yesterday’s technology—is quickly forgotten.

God doesn’t change His mind like a child when a game is not going his or her way, nor is He hurt by our taunts, tirades, or trashtalking. He will always be good, loving, merciful, holy, righteous, just, and sovereign. God will not and cannot lie, for if God could lie, then He would be less than God, for in order for God to be perfect, He cannot lie. And He does not change His mind; His purposes will stand because they are right and truthful. No one will be able to thwart or circumvent what He has decreed will come to pass.

God’s immutability enables the saints of God to rest in Him. We need not try and make ourselves greater than we are, nor worry at the seemingly endless stream of sin that our world gives itself over to more and more each day. We need not try and carry the burden of finite omniscience that comes with the advance of information at our disposal, but we can instead rest in peace, knowing that He will bring an end to sin and will manifestly and joyously rule over the universe when He comes again. May we all find the peace and rest that come from trusting and resting in Him today. Amen.