Not Always the Same
Mal 3:6 KJV “For I am the LORD, I change not . . .”
Heb 13:8 NIV “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
What comfort to know that we serve the God Who never changes, through Jesus Christ Who is the same yesterday, today, and forever! We never have to wonder how He’s going to act today or tomorrow, based on His having a rough day, being tired, or just having an attitude that allows Him to be short-tempered with us. He is always the same, just as His Word promises. Since that’s the case, how can I title this writing as I have?
Though our Father is constant and unchanging, He must respond to us and work with us differently at different times because we are not always the same. I’ll give you an example from my own life. As I shared in the December 2004 Nuggets, I have found that seeking the Lord for an answer involves determining what the first question really needs to be, and then asking Him the basic yes or no question. If He says “yes,” then I move on to the next question. If the answer is no, there is no need to go further. Early last year, though, He threw me a curve ball. As I read information in a magazine about an upcoming missions trip to India, the thought of my being part of this trip began to burn inside me. What was my first response? “No, God. You’re not calling me to go to India, are You? I’ve never wanted to go there. Surely you aren’t sending me.” Despite all my protests, even in that moment I knew it was the Lord. Over the coming weeks, as I considered it and received more information, I never even felt the need to ask the basic question, “Am I to go?” There was such a strong pulling in my spirit (a knowing in my knower) that I was called to this trip – to a nation I’d never desired to see – that there was no doubt in my mind it was the Lord’s will and timing for me.
If I had asked the standard yes or no question of Him, I am sure He would have answered me, certainly without any chastisement. But He doesn’t want me to get into a box and be limited where He is concerned. I used to say that we must not box God in. Really, we’re the ones that get into a box and only allow God to be what we’ve known of Him up to this point in our lives. He wants us to grow in that place of communion with Him so that we recognize His heart, not just His voice. He wants us to be so intimately acquainted with Him that He can lead and guide us as is best at that particular time, no matter where we are or what we are doing, and no matter how we have known Him to lead before.
While the familiar is comfortable, my true desire is to be taken out of my box, to be changed. I want the Holy Spirit to lead me into new places in the Lord and to show me the boxes I have built that don’t allow God to be God in me and through me to others. How about you? Are you ready for God, Who changes not, to do things differently in your life so you can know Him more in every situation?
© Copyright 2006 Kay V. Stocking
