Malachi 3:6
“I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.
If someone were to describe you, what would they say?
Each of us carries a reputation, distinguishing us as individuals in the crowd. We are described by our occupation and hobbies, our character and temperament, how we interact with others, and what effect we have on the world around us.
In this world, it is not what we think that gives us our reputation; rather, it is what we do.
Even the environment in which we live is judged by this standard. Each day is counted as a separate and unique occurrence. Every second accounted for and every date marked as a testimony to, and measurement of, the permanence of change.
Every decision we make is founded on this one constant, and, by extension, every promise we make or receive is conditional.
Who I am today, when I make a promise, is not who I will be when the time comes to carry it out. The world will not be the same place. The circumstances will have changed.
It is only children who maintain the promises of others as set in stone. Life experience dictates that we develop a certain skepticism anytime a definitive statement is made in an indefinite world. It would be foolish, even downright dangerous, for us to "count our chickens before they have hatched."
With God, this is not so.
To have faith in a promise of God is not to have faith in God's ability. Rather, it is to have faith in His very existence!
God is the only entity, in the totality of existence, that is unaffected by change. He alone, being creator rather than created, enjoys this attribute.
He is that "solid rock", that "everlasting to everlasting". That one by which and through which and for which all things that are created were created. The beginning and the end.
His steadfastness and perseverance are not tools in his toolbelt. These attributes are not something He employs to deal with certain circumstances. He is unchanging.
He “is”.
"Is" Is His description!
When Moses asked, "Who do I tell them has sent me?" God responded, "I AM."
Not "was", not "Will be", not "sometimes"... "Is", "AM."
There is no other example of this.
This qualifies Him as the solution to all of our problems because He is the antithesis of all of our problems.
When those who loved us change and so stop loving us, He remains the same, along with His love.
When those things that provide security for us change, He remains the same, along with His security.
When even we change, and the very basis of who we are and why we do things falls into question, He remains the same. Yesterday, today, and forever.
When this very world passes away, even the elements of its composition melting away with nothing left over, the solid rock foundation, which is Christ Himself, will remain, unchanged.
Human love, reasoning, planning, feeling, motivation... All of these are temporal, fleeting, contingent.
How foolish it would be to build on these things?… To put your trust in them?…To look at and consider them?
Why would we invest our time in a ship that we know is sinking?