Unchanging

“The Rock: His works are perfect, and the way he works is fair and just; a God you can depend upon, no exceptions, a straight-arrow God.” Deuteronomy 32:4 (The Message)

Relationships can become very frustrating when it is impossible to depend on someone. I’m sure we have all been the victim of someone’s changeability along the way. We are lead to believe the person is trustworthy, true to their word, and we base our relationship upon that. And then, sometimes completely by surprise, we find we are not able to rely upon that person at all. They may have promised to help with a project and not show up. Perhaps they offered emotional support, but could not be found in the moment of crisis.

At the same time, we must own our own fickle ways. It is easy to promise big and deliver small. We want to be helpful and offer ourselves quickly; yet, when the need actually arises we discover we bit off far more than we wanted to chew, and find a way to bail out; or at least minimize our involvement.

This sort of change, this flighty nature, is so disconcerting because we want to trust people. We want to know we can rely on people’s word. Life is uncertain enough without having to figure out whether someone will be true to their word or not. Or, more to the point, we do not want to wonder whether people will be true to us. Knowing someone has promised support, and yet discovering they may have acted in the opposite extreme, can affect us deeply.

Moses wants us to know that God is nothing like this at all. He is like a rock. A boulder. No, an entire cliff of a mountain. Flowers bloom and fade within a season. Trees sprout their leaves, grow fruit and scatter their foliage in the fall. Streams forge new beds, rivers rise and fall. But those stone cliffs are impervious to observable change.

Yes, we all understand that, given time, the elements can carve away even the densest stone. But the metaphor stands. I have not visited Yosemite for nearly 40 years. Two friends and I decided to backpack along the Tuolumne River immediately after High School. I doubt the campground where we set up our base looks much like it did back then. The trees from which we hung our food may have changed so as to be unrecognizable. But, take a look a Half Dome and compare it with one of Ansel Adams famous photographs and you will see little change at all.

 Just like a rock that can stand the tests of time, so the Lord is always perfect, fair and just. Some of life’s greatest heartaches come from being treated unfairly. When you have trusted someone deeply, or have a long-term friendship shattered, the sorrow is undeniable. Even among the most dedicated people, we may find ourselves on the unkind side of justice. But God’s judgments are pure, His actions are always fair.

In a time when over half of marriages end in divorce, it is comforting to know that God is incapable of breaking His word. In a world that records treaties made and broken, it is heartening to remember God does not rely on the small-print to wriggle His way out of an agreement. Even in times when we have been treated wrongly and there is no hope of reparation, we must remember that God is perfect.

We are not reminded about God’s fairness so we can feel better about ourselves and look forward to those “others” finally getting what they deserve. We must remember we have sometimes been the one to break our word, to argue our way out of an agreement, or to beg out of a promise. This is not about proving how good we are and how wrong someone else is.

No, life is always about how good God is! Life doesn’t always take us down the path we desired. We may have seasons of great success. As a youth pastor I saw incredible numerical growth of every group I started. Every church I have pastored has grown. And, I have been the leader in sales for more than one organization. But, I currently am going through a season that, numerically, is very stale. The small church we pastor has not “plateaud”, it has “valleyed”!

I have found myself becoming increasingly discouraged, not to mention the fact that, because of my headache syndrome I have resigned as Drama Director at our High School, can no longer play racquetball and tennis, and have no stamina to work on my MG Midget so I can drive it during the summer. So, in a time when I feel fairly unsuccessful, I also cannot do many of the things that bring me joy.

What am I to do, or say? Shall I determine that God is no longer my Rock? That He is somehow unfair and unjust? Shall I now say that He is completely unreliable? Why? Because, for the first time in my career, I don’t have “success”? Will I really lay that at God’s feet and accuse Him of not being good just because I don’t like my current situation?

Have I made an idol of my own success? Or, perhaps worse, have I made an idol of my own comfort? Is God no longer good just because my life has become so uncertain? Did I agree to follow Him only as long as I felt like a winner?

He is the Rock! His faithfulness, goodness, righteousness and justice are just as pure and true now as ever. How incredible that we fool ourselves into thinking our personal struggles suggest He is anything other than perfect. Whatever the situation, God never changes, and that is a truth to last a lifetime.