Monday, February 02, 2015

Changing Unchanging God

From Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
Words by Walter C. Smith

To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish—but naught changeth Thee.

We call God unchanging.  We sing about how God does not change.  In fact, there are several hymns that mention it.

And I'm not disputing it.  But just like in so many things that have to do with God, that's only one side of the coin.  God is unchanging, and yet God will change.  Read this written by Amy Persons Parkes in Disciplines 2015:
However, God is not stuck in a predetermined rut of accountability, even if our past choices have been less than faithful.  God is responsive to us as we (made in God's image) can be responsive to God.  The Lord can and will proceed towards the promise of a people who receive and respond to the divine message even if it means God has to make a change in the plan.
God, who is unchangeable, will change - his mind, his plans, his response.  What does not change about God is his love for us, and there is so much else that gets sacrificed for that love.

When we are at our best, aren't we like that?  Doesn't we change our response to people?  Don't we change our goals and dreams when necessary for the sake of those we love?  Don't we let go of our anger and hatred, so much so that we will re-create someone in our minds for the sake of forgiveness? What remains unchanged is the love we hold for that person; the rest isn't as important.

Thank God that God changes because God is unchanging.

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