The God Who Never Fails

Whether they're big or small, we all have expectations:

    We expect the mail to come every day of the work-week. 

    We expect our children to obey us.

    We expect our fridges to be filled with food and our houses to be warm during the cold winter months.

    We expect others to treat us with respect. 

    We expect exercise and healthy eating habits to help us keep our weight down. 

    We expect those around us to be there for us when we need them. 

    We expect life to be filled with joy and happiness. 

And when our expectations aren't met, then what?  

Sometimes the sting, disappointment, and pain of unmet expectations go deep, way deeper than we ever thought they would. We realize how much importance we were putting on the fulfillment of those particular expectations to bring us joy in life. 

We also discover (whether we want to or not) that those things in which we seek to find fulfillment and validation are all passing; they're all temporary. The people who are a part of helping fulfill these expectations are all frail, imperfect human beings, just like us. 

And eventually, they're going to let us down.  

And finally, we discover that, while we often do it, we cannot place our expectations in earthly things. 

However, we have a God who is never-failing, constant and unchanging in all His ways: In Him, we can always place our expectation and hope. 

How can we be certain that when God says He will do something, He most certainly will do it? 

1. God does not change

Unlike humans who go back on their word, forget their promises, communicate one thing when they really mean another, or change their minds when a better option shows up, God does not change: His purposes remain the same from eternity past to eternity future. His will concerning His children remains the same. His love remains unwavering. His character remains unflawed and upright.  And His actions always reflect His character. 

James 1:17 reminds us that God has "no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

No variableness suggests the concept of God not having even the slightest bit of change, not even from one degree to another. 

For example, not only does God not change from being a good God to being a bad God, He does not even change in the sense that He goes from being very good to simply being good. 

There is no variance in God: He will continue to be exactly the same as He has been since before time began. 

2. God cannot lie 

This builds on the previous point, for, because God cannot change, having once stated that He cannot lie, He remains unable to lie. 

Hebrews 6:17-18 communicates the weight of the certainty that God cannot lie, for God uses it as the evidence that He will indeed fulfill His covenant!

    "So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose,

 he guaranteed it with an oath, 

so that by two unchangeable things, 

in which it is impossible for God to lie, 

we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us." (ESV, emphasis mine)

Thus, if God cannot lie, He cannot say one thing and then do another. Ever. 

For example:

If He has promised eternal life to anyone who believes, He will indeed grant eternal life to the one who, by faith, places his trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. (John 3:16)

If He has said He will forgive us our sins if we confess them, with all certainty He will follow through with His word and be faithful and just to do exactly that! (1 John 1:19) 

If He has promised the hope of the coming day when our bodies will be glorified and we will forever be with the Lord, we will most certainly be with Him for all of eternity! (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

If He has said that He will finish the work He has begun in the life of every believer, He most surely will see to it that that work is seen to completion! (Philippians 1:6) 

If He has declared that His power and plan reaches far beyond anything our minds can even begin to imagine, we can believe that He is most definitely telling us the truth! (Ephesians 3:20) 

If He has said that absolutely nothing can separate us from His love, it's true: absolutely nothing can come between us and God's love for us! (Romans 8:38) 

If He has declared us to be set free from the chains of our bondage to sin, He has indeed made us free from sin and made us slaves unto Himself! (Romans 6:22-23)

You get the picture: If God has declared it to be so, it stands accurate, guaranteed, and infallible (without change or mistake). God's character leaves no room for changes, exceptions, or failing.

The reality of God's unchanging character and His inability to lie is perhaps one of the greatest comforts a believer can rest in when doubts threaten to cloud one's spiritual vision of God: He alone is the one in whom we can, and must, place all of our faith and trust, and in turn find our joy. 

So when our hearts are tempted to feel rejected, discouraged, downcast, and when we're ready to condemn all of humanity for having failed to meet our expectations, we must turn to the One who will never change and who will always fulfill His word...because of who He is! 

All praise to Him.