Don’t do it.

God is immutable. Have you ever heard someone say that? Do you know and understand what it means? If not, you are in the right place because we will be talking about the immutability of God today.

This is probably one of my favourite attributes of God. I mean, all His attributes are amazing but there is a part of me that finds comfort in knowing that God does not change. That’s what immutable means. It means unchanging over time or unable to be changed. Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act?  Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”

Why is this comforting to me? Imagine this if you will, you live your life serving Jesus and believing in Jesus and doing all the things the Bible teaches us to do. You die and you meet Jesus at the pearly gates, and He says, “Well, you know how I said I paid for all your sins and if you believe in Me you will have eternal life and not die? Yeah, I’ve changed my mind.” How devastating would that be! You have lived life with an eternal hope of a Saviour who will welcome you into heaven and utter the words, “Well done good and faithful servant!” But instead, you are met with, “I changed my mind”! That does not seem right or fair at all does it?

Psalm 16:9-10 says, “My heart and soul explode with joy—full of glory! Even my body will rest confident and secure. For you will not abandon me to the realm of death, nor will you allow your Faithful One to experience corruption.” That verse primarily foreshadows what would happen on the cross but I receive it for myself too as God’s child, that I will not be abandoned to death. God will not change His mind about me or salvation and so on. He has a made up mind when it comes to us and its that He loves us and wants to rescue us from eternal death.

Now, how awesome is God’s immutability starting to sound? Whoever God says He is, He will only expand on in heaven, He won’t take away from it. He does not lie or change His mind. Whatever He says is true, why? Because in His mouth is the power to create so when He speaks His word creates the very thing He speaks. He is amazing like that!

Malachi 3:6 says, “I am the Lord, and I do not change.” God’s immutability is pretty amazing until we are faced with a situation and God says one thing, and we think we should be doing something different. How many times have we waited on God to change His mind not realising that His mind is already made up?

I am reminded of the story of Balaam. In summary, the Israelites were passing through Moab and camped near the Jordan River. The Moabite King felt some kind of way about it, okay, he was terrified. The God of the Israelites had delivered them from slavery, split the Red Sea so they walked on dry ground and killed all of Pharoah’s army. It tracks that the Moabite King and his people would be terrified! So, the king of Moab sent for Balaam (who was an ungodly “prophet”) so that he would come and curse the Israelites for him.

The Lord appeared to Balaam, told him not to do it. Balaam would entertain these people and ask them to spend the night so he can ask God again what he ought to do. His greed was having the better of him as he was being offered money and so much more. God would say, “Don’t do it”.  The second time the king’s people approached Balaam with even more money and stuff, Balaam asked them to spend the night again and hang around so he could ask God again and God said for him to go. Balaam got up the next day to go and nearly died for it, his donkey saved his life and talked to him. It’s a wild story! It is found in Number 22, go have a read.

I used to get so confused! But God you said he could go, why were you mad at him? Then I heard someone put it this way, sometimes our hearts are already set on doing what we want to do, so God lets us do it even if it breaks His heart for us to go through with it. Classic example was Judas. Jesus loved Judas, yet at the last supper He tells him, “What you are planning to do, go do it now,” John 13:27. Jesus released Judas to go betray Him. God does not want to stand in the way of our free will even if what we are planning to do is downright terrible.

Sometimes we go to God asking Him over and over and over again whether we should date this person or go do this and so on. We refuse to take no for an answer, so God says in effect, “you can do what you want”. We do it, it fails, and we try to blame God. No. We need to recognise that we are the problem. God does not change, if He told you not to do it, do not keep asking. If seasons change and God wants you to go for it five years later, He will tell you. He knows how to get your attention. Don’t be a Balaam or a Judas! We can’t change God’s mind. 1 Samuel 15:29 says, “And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!”

On the other side of that, if there is a promise God has made to you, hang onto it tight! God is known for His faithfulness and since He does not and cannot change, He will be faithful to fulfil it. James 1:17 says, “Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change.”

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano.