Does God Change His Mind?

I was having lunch today with a friend who stated in passing that, of course, God never changes His mind. Hmmm, I thought. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that, while “of course” statements might be true, they’re often worth a second look.

I must have raised an eyebrow because my friend explained that, since God is God, it would be against His very nature to change His mind. Well, he should have known: a little circular reasoning and I was fully engaged.

But what about Moses and Hezekiah, I countered? These were all examples of God relenting from what He had decided. And Nineveh! God didn’t even offer them repentance: the message through Jonah was that, in forty days, you will be destroyed.

Well, countered my friend, those were all cases of God getting people to come around to what He wanted to do in the first place. In other words, He hadn’t really decided to wipe out all the Israelites or Ninevites; He was just saying that so people would repent and He could do what He had planned all along.

The more my friend talked, the more convinced I became that his theology had been decided first and the facts were being conformed to fit. The Bible doesn’t even hint that the final outcome was what God had in mind in the first place – it says that God decided to wipe out a people and then He changed His mind. Consider the story of the golden calf (Exodus 32): when God decided to wipe out Israel because of their rebellion (v. 10), He did not relent (v. 14) because of any repentance on the part of the Israelites but because of Moses’ plea (vv. 11-13).

We all have compassion on our kids and have relented from punishing them the way that they deserve. From where did we get that compassion? Was it not as a result of being made in the image and likeness of God? And isn’t the very essence of compassion the changing of one’s mind?

Some will argue that a sovereign God cannot go against what He has already decided. I would suggest that a truly sovereign God can do whatever He desires. This is not at all to suggest that God is capricious or arbitrary. On the contrary: He is steadfast and dependable. And one of the ways in which he is dependable is His compassion. His ability, His willingness – no, His desire, to change His mind.

And always for our good.

Courage

There are a few passages in the Bible which list the “really bad” sins. Of course, in a very real sense, no sin is worse than another: all sins which aren't atoned for by Jesus will keep us from eternal life. But for some reason, in Revelation 21:8, we're given a list of characteristics of those who are sentenced to eternity in the Lake of Fire (otherwise known as hell). We're told that the damned are guilty of what we might expect: murder, witchcraft, sexual morality, idolatry and lying. But one item in particular caught my attention: cowardliness. Cowardliness? Sure, being a coward is nothing to be proud of but does it really belong in the same class as murder, witchcraft and adultery? Murderers are destined for the lake of fire – but so are those who where afraid to stop murders?? There must be a mistake here.

But no, that’s what God says.

So what could He mean? Could He mean what He says? That those of us who are afraid to do what He tells us to will not be spending eternity with Him? That if we fear the consequences of doing what He tells us more than we fear Him there is no place for us in His Kingdom?

This reminds me of Jesus saying that those who love Him will do what He commands (John 14:23). Many of us don't like to think of Jesus as anything but all smiles and hugs. But it would seem to me that it is the same Jesus speaking in both the Gospel of John and in Revelations. Saying we love Jesus but refusing to do what He says for whatever reason (cowardliness being only one) is not actually loving Jesus. And that doesn't end well.

A Christian Checklist

Here's a list that most Christians I know are able to check off as “done” or “experienced”:

1. Accepted free gift of salvation. Jesus did all the heavy lifting.

2. Experienced trials due to one's profession of faith.

3. Set free from the requirement (bondage, slavery) to do certain sins.

4. Experiencing God's divine hand of protection.

5. Experiencing God's miraculous provision.

6. Fellowshipping and worshiping with fellow believers on a regular basis.

7. Having a pastor through whom God is speaking.

8. Assurance of salvation based on number one and the supporting evidence of the next six items.

All of those things are not only great, they're Biblically required and/or promised.

Except, perhaps, for the last one.

The Israelites, arguably the best example of the Christian church, had the same list as a result of the Exodus:

1. Accepted free gift of salvation. Moses did all the heavy lifting.

2. Experienced trials due to their profession of faith (ordered to collect their own straw, Exodus 5).

3. Set free from slavery in Egypt.

4. Experiencing God's divine hand of protection in the Red Sea crossing.

5. Experiencing God's miraculous provision (manna in the dessert, water from a rock, etc.).

6. Fellowshipping and worshiping with fellow believers on a regular basis (congregation of 600,000 men and their families).

7. Having a pastor (Moses) through whom God spoke.

8. Assurance of being God's chose people based on number one and the supporting evidence of the next six items.

And what was the result for nearly all of the Israelites? As Paul would day, they failed to finish the race. They did not receive what they had hoped for, that for which what God had set them free. Their deliverance was in vain. They might as well have stayed bound in Egypt.

Are we any different? Are you a Joshua or a Caleb – truly unique among 600,000? How can you tell? How can you be sure? (Hint: are your feet moving? And in what direction?)

I’ll do it!

One evening recently I was driving with my kids to keep an appointment. We where driving in an area in which I had never been before. They hadn’t eaten dinner yet and we didn’t have much more than a few minutes to spare if we were to keep our appointment. I had planned that we would find a McDonald’s, hit the drive-through and be on our way. Everyone would be happy and an important appointment would be kept.

And I was good. Better than I am sometimes: I didn’t worry about finding a McDonald’s; I simply asked God from the outset to find us one. No worries.

But here we were, twenty minutes into our thirty minute trip and no fast food, certainly no McDonald’s. And a worry appeared. “What if God doesn’t show us a place to get some food?” I thought. And then my very next thought: “Well, then I’ll have to get off this highway and find us some food.”

WHAT?? WHAT?? If God doesn’t provide, I will?? Have I no understanding of God?? Do I have such a highly exalted view of myself that I believe I can succeed when God fails??

Wow. I'm thankful that at least I recognized the craziness of my thinking. May I always remember that, if God doesn’t answer my prayer the way I expect or like Him to, it’s definitely because He has something better in mind.

(P.S. God did find us food (surprise, surprise!) but it wasn't McDonald's. So, in addition to this being a lesson for me, it also became a teachable moment with my son – who I discovered thought that anything other than McDonald's is completely unacceptable.)

What Are We Doing?

For many Christians being a Christian is a decision made once – perhaps at an altar call, perhaps as the act of baptism, publicly or privately, as a child or maybe as an adult. It’s a done deal, sealed by the Blood, and life continues. There may be increased church attendance, Bible reading at times and a comfortable assurance that one’s final destination is and always will be Heaven.

Of course, this kind of feel-good theology has to ignore all the Scriptures that admonish us to persevere and finish the race, all the parables (the ten virgins of Matthew 25, the sower of Matthew 13), and even the explicit statements of Jesus (e.g. narrow is the way…). But that’s not what I want to talk about today.

What does it mean to “finish the race”? Are we in a competition with others? No, God is clear that we will be judged according to what each of us has done (2 Cor. 5:10) not in comparison to what others have done.

If we’re not in competition, perhaps God just means that we are to hang in until the end, not give up, and cross the finish line. Perhaps. But I came across a verse in Jeremiah this morning that increased my suspicion that God wants more – much more. If it was simply a matter of persevering until we cross the finish line, we might just as well be waiting for a bus. After all, waiting for a bus can certainly take stick-to-itiveness. But there’s a difference between crossing the finish line and waiting for a ride to come along – it’s in the running.

What is it about running? Well, for one thing, it requires effort (Phil 2:12). Running strengthens us (James 1:2-4). And running purifies us (1 Tim 6:11-14). If we are to be the bride of Christ and He is coming back for a pure bride (2 Cor. 11:2), I think that, at least for me, some exercise is in order.

The passage this morning in Jeremiah (6:28-30) caught my attention because there God is talking to the church (as far as I am aware, only the church is called silver in the Bible). God is putting them through the refining process (another thing privilege only experienced by believers). But instead of purification, the refining has no effect; the dross remains.

The church in this passage is still called silver, but it is rejected silver (6:30). God had placed hills and valleys along the path of their lives. He sent times of refreshing and times of unimaginable thirst. But instead of running the race, I think they waited for the finish line to come to them.

Unexpected Gifts

Recently God gave me a gift that is not only complete unexpected but is greater than I anything I could have imagined. Picture, just by way of illustration, receiving a winning lottery ticket worth $100 million despite not playing the lottery.

And the gift is ongoing and growing. You could picture that $100 million being delivered in weekly installments of, say, $50,000. But the picture that comes to my mind is that of someone who is poor, destitute, living in a third world country with no reason to expect a life different than that of his father and his father’s father before him. But some benefactor (Oprah on vacation?) swoops in and provides him with a college education in America, all expenses paid.

In the old days, if I was that young man, I would be grateful and excited. I would joyfully begin my new life and then, within a few weeks, I would probably begin to worry about next semester. What if my benefactor stops paying my tuition? What if I don’t maintain the grade point average that my benefactor has in mind? (Never mind that no such requirement was ever mentioned.) What if this is all a dream, a brief interlude that will end as quickly as it began?

“How silly,” we would say. The gift is a gift. It will not be taken away. It is not contingent on your performance. Its intent is not to set you up for a fall. And it is not a partial gift: it will be completed.

I am grateful – not only for the gift but that God has been and is working in me an assurance that it is truly, in every sense of the word, a gift.

Enjoy!

Whom Shall We Believe?

For many years now, my children have been among my best teachers about the Kingdom of God. Sure, they usually are unaware of the lessons they give but those lessons are no less powerful for their innocence. Recently, my son taught me a lesson about who I listen to.

My son, who is seven, has a friend in the neighborhood with whom he likes to play at every opportunity. The two boys share a lot of interests and get along well. If I had to express one complaint about this other boy, though, it would be that he opines and prognosticates on any and every subject that arises and does so with a certainty and authority that invite no question. Unfortunately, his desire to express himself seems to be paramount; truth runs a distant second if it even places at all.

My son often wants to know when his friend will be available to play and, as with everything, his friend is quick to offer definitive answers. They’re not necessarily (or often) correct but delivered with than assurance that leaves my son harboring no doubt as to their veracity.

On one particular day, at 5:30 in the afternoon, the friend was called to dinner. My son immediately wanted to know if they would be able to continue playing after dinner. My son was crestfallen when his friend confidently replied that he would be going to bed immediately after dinner because it was a school night.

Having a few years of experience under my belt as well as knowing the habits of this particular family, I knew without a doubt that no such bedtime was planned by the boy’s parents and that, in all likelihood, the boys would have plenty of time to continue playing after dinner.

I explained this to my son who objected that his friend had been quite clear about his plans for the rest of the evening. I countered by reminding my son of his friend’s track record – which was as close to perfectly wrong as one could imagine. My son then had the choice of believing me, his dad who didn’t appear to be involved and to have reason to know what he was talking about – or his friend who, after all, would seem to be the best source of information since it was his life and plans we were talking about.

How often do I make the mistake my son did! God says one thing and somebody else make a pronouncement or a plan or even takes an action that is in direct contradiction to God’s promise. And I listen to the other person because that’s real, right?

The good news is that, slowly but very surely, God is showing me that, despite my doubts and the assurances of my senses, there is only one Reality.