Unchanging God
Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher said, “Change is the only constant in life.” Seasons change, people change, and life changes but, I wish to submit to you a quite contrasting truth to this popular quote; God doesn’t change. In Hebrews 13:8 it is declared that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” We serve an unchanging God, whose word is consistent truth.
Many have deemed the times that we are living in as unprecedented and uncertain. There is much worry, fear and anxiety about the future. You can reflect on how our way of life has changed: wearing masks, social distancing, at one point, locked in our homes and maybe the most impacting for me: no or restricted gathering of the church. For many churches, their worship experience went from being physically present in the church to a virtual forum. During this experience, I have been grateful for the fact that even when our place of worshipchanged [by force], God never changed and will never change.
The devil tries in so many ways to disrupt our lives and turn us away from God; but I can declare that indeed “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” – Romans 8:28. It was during this pandemic, while being stranded in a foreign country and for the most part isolated to a dorm room that I really found time to spend with God. What could have been a situation of isolation and depression turned into an experience of re-encountering the Holy Spirit. That was a much-welcomed reminder that God is with us.
There are many stories in the Bible of persons going through challenging times, but the mercy of God kept them. We may call our present time a challenging one also, but God who is the same yesterday and today and forever remains merciful.
In life, I have come to expect change; both good and bad but, what continues to give me hope during challenging or unexpected events is that the same merciful God of the Bible, is the same God that I serve today. His love for us has not changed. He expects us to have faith and trust Him. His word is consistent from Genesis to Revelations and therefore as believers of Christ, we know how the story ends.
May your hope today be in the unchanging God, who is the Alpha and Omega.
—Donnette Ritchie
Presbyterian Church of Guyana
Presbyterian Church of Guyana
Donnette served as the Presbyterian Church of Guyana’s representative at CAANAC’s General Assembly in Jamaica in 2014. And in 2015 she was CAANAC’s Youth Representative at the Young Adult’s in Mission Camp held by CANACOM. Donnette currently serves as a lay preacher in the Presbyterian Church of Guyana.