A Christian blog designed to encourage believers in their walk with Christ.
Even so, the last line of the post pleaded with all the group members to share the information on their Facebook pages and ask others to share the post on their accounts. “Let’s see if we can get a thousand people to pray!”
A thousand people? Why? Does God require a thousand people to pray for a request?
You can’t help but smile at the ludicrous thought of a snowman desiring warmth. Yet, it is what Olaf wants. His innocent thoughts about something harmful bring him joy.
Don’t we pray that way as well? We want something that we believe will make us happy, and when God denies it, we throw a fit and question His goodness.
At 64 inches, I towered over the four-inch creature. Yet, the possum bellowed to warn me to keep away. In an Okay Corral fashion, we squared off. He was on his side, and I was on mine.
While perusing Pinterest the other day, I found a pin on creating shadow puppets with your hands. Simple hand gestures behind a lamp will reflect a horse on the wall. Changing the position of your fingers will form a dog. A turn of the wrist and two protruding knuckles will create a rabbit or a mouse. However, if you held up a motionless fist to the light, it would be difficult for anyone to determine what the shadow resembled.
“Is it a dog?”
“Nope.”
“Is it a rock?”
“No.”
“Is it bread?”
“Nah. It’s God.”
James 1:17 says, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” The doctrine of God’s inability to change, a.k.a., immutability, is a deep topic. It is possibly God’s most comforting and loving attribute, at least in my opinion.
Because our lives are constantly changing, immutability is unusual for us. We backtrack our words, steps, and even decisions. One day, we long for a new job; the next day, we are grateful to have a job. We modify our minds, our bodies, and even our relationships. But not God. He is incapable of change in any way or form. He’s constant and immovable.
The Bible tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) Psalms 102:27 states, “But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.” Second Timothy 2:13 notes, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”
Why is this important? God’s immutability should firm up our faith and squash our fears. For example, the other day, I found myself, once again, on a gurney awaiting a surgeon. My heart fluttered, and a moment of fear came over me. I was frightened of the unknown. But there was nothing unfamiliar about the situation. It was a repeat performance of a similar procedure I had a year ago. The same God that brought me comfort, healing, and life was still with me when I awoke a few hours later. His love for me had not failed or lessened, nor did He become distracted and forget me. The same God heard my prayers and gave me peace. What was there to fear?
In his sermon entitled, “No One Like Him: Immutability,” Pastor Brian Klassen of Grace Community Church says,
Metathesiophobia means an extreme fear of the unknown. On the one hand, it
arises from our intimate awareness of creation’s susceptibility to change. Changeable
things were never meant to be the objects of our trust. Yet, despite our awareness
of their fleetingness, we keep putting faith in them, and as we do, we’re disappointed.
On the other hand, metathesiophobia manifests itself because of our inadequate
understanding of our Creator’s character. Specifically, we fear the unpredictable
because we do know so poorly the One who is changeless. We fail to connect the
dots—to realize that our anxiety arises from a lack of faith, specifically in God’s
immutability.
We can’t trust what we do not know. Therefore, a fear of the unknown can only find refuge in one thing: the knowledge of God. Set some time aside and dive into the attributes of God, read the gospels, and ask God to open your eyes to behold His character.
A Tree Firmly Planted 