As a person who does not enjoy change, dwelling on the unchanging nature of God is something that gives me great comfort. James describes God as, “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.” (Jas 1:17b – NET) The Psalmist talks about how the earth will be changed, then says in great satisfaction, “But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” (Ps. 102:27 – NIV) What a comfort that is in this shifting and shaking world! God does not change. He is who He was. He is who He is. He is who He will be (Rev. 1:8). It doesn’t matter if life is totally overthrown tomorrow. God is still the same. It doesn’t matter if everything continues just as it has. God is still the same.

And yet, in this season of Christmas, we find that we celebrate the fact that God did change. He became something He wasn’t: a human being. He lived among us and was one of us. Then the Godhead experienced the greatest change imaginable: at the cross the eternal unity of the Godhead was rent as the Father turned His back on the Son for that horrible moment when Jesus Christ cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt. 27:46 – NIV) Thus even the Unchanging One allowed Himself to be changed. Though now glorified and reunited with His Father, He is acquainted with our weaknesses (Heb. 4:15), the constant shifting around us, the uncertainty of what it means to live as a human being in this fallen and twisted world. And so He becomes a greater rock, a greater source of strength in the shifting sands of time, enabling us to cling and rest when life swirls and when life rests.