Nothing Has Changed

A great comfort for us when things are changing, when promises are not being fulfilled, and when we find ourselves in storms, is to look to God's unchanging nature.

Returning home after a long time and realizing that nothing has changed is a great comfort. That room still smells like that. That bird still calls in the evenings. That second stair still creeks.

Seeing an old friend after a long time and realizing that they haven’t changed is a great comfort. He still laughs at that story. He still wears those ridiculous pants. He’s still an idiot.

Returning to a movie or book that you once loved only to now see its stark shortcomings and insipidity is certainly uncomfortable. The book has changed.

The greatest comfort is that God has never changed. An afflicted man pours out his lament before the Lord: “But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”¹ The author of Hebrews says, “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.”²

Jesus calls us to take uncertain and treacherous paths that ultimately lead to greater places. He calls us out onto the water, as He did to Peter. He inspires us to pray about bigger things. He teaches us to trust Him.

And on the beginning of this path, we are strong because our legs are fresh and the inspiration is still ringing. But then time goes on. Things don’t go the way we expect. Maybe tragedy strikes. We start to question Him and lose faith. We abandon ship.

But what has changed?

God is still God. He is still Love.³ His promises are still His promises. Upon closer inspection, it appears that nothing has changed.

While sailing for Rome, Paul and 275 other men were caught in a storm that lasted fourteen days. Luke writes, “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.”⁴

Paul tells the men, “I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.”⁵

On the fourteenth night, the storm starts driving the boat into a rocky island, so they “dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight.”⁶ In an attempt to escape, the men then lower the only lifeboat down into the sea. But Paul is having none of it:

“‘Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.’ So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away.”⁷

After encouraging the men to eat, Paul reminds them that “not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”⁸ Luke continues: “When daylight came, they did not recognise the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach…”⁹ Every one of them reached land alive.

God told Paul that none of them would die. This claim is too good to be true. It therefore takes Paul great faith to believe it; especially because the storm did not cease after he heard the promise. The same is often true with us.

The storm clearly tests our faith, but so do other more inconspicuous things, like reason. We are all going to drown after being dashed to pieces on the rocks, so we better get away on the lifeboat. But Paul, still believing what God said, tells the sailors to cut the lifeboat away. Not to hoist it back up, but to drop it into the raging water.

Paul cuts off any back-up plans and safety nets to show God that he fully trusts Him. And for this reason, none of them died. I posit that if Paul let them use the lifeboat, if he did what seemed reasonable, none of them would’ve survived.

This story shows that trusting God leads to life. It shows that the storms don’t change God or His promises.

He is the same God who parted the Red Sea and who sustained Jesus in the wilderness and on the cross. God hasn’t changed since He made that promise to Paul and the 275 men. And He hasn’t changed since he made those promises to you.

I recently heard someone say that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but surety. To be uncertain yet heading into the arms of the Father is the best place we can be.

The daylight will come, and with it the sandy beach. Don’t be surprised if at first you don’t recognize it.

1. Psalm 102:27

2. Hebrews 6:17

3. 1 John 4:8

4. Acts 27:20-21

5. Acts 27:22-26

6. Acts 27:29-30

7. Acts 27:31-33

8. Acts 27:34-35

9. Acts 27:39-40