For I am the Lord, I change not. – Malachi 3:6
Russian-born, Nobel Prize winning author Alexandr Solzhenitsyn loved his native country, but hated many of the things done by his government. For speaking out against public wrongs, especially in the Stalinist era, he first served an eight-year sentence in various prison camps. Then he was exiled for life to an undesirable part of the Soviet Union in southern Kazakhstan. Later, because of his international fame, he was exiled from the Soviet Union entirely, eventually winding up in the United States.
An American journalist interviewed him during the Cold War, when tensions between the East and West were high. When asked, “What was the worst thing about life in Russia?” his answer was surprising. He could have commented on the millions of Russians executed by government forces in the years following the Bolshevik Revolution. He could have complained about the way he personally had been treated. Instead, he began by noting that the Constitution of Russia and her written laws were basically good. On paper, citizens were guaranteed all sorts of freedoms and protections, including freedom of religion.
Mr. Solzhenitsyn’s complaint was in how the law was administered. A law might be administered one way on one day or to one class of people, and another way on a different day or to a different group. Everything was subject to change, and nothing could be depended upon.
In contrast to people and governments, God never changes. Our understanding of Him and of His call upon our lives may broaden and deepen as we draw nearer to Him, but God Himself never changes. The promises of the Bible are as valid today as on the day they were written. Furthermore, God does not change to fit man’s desires. Rather, people need to ask God to change their hearts so they conform to His unchanging plan.
Do you have a promise from God for a need in your life today? He is unchanging.