Why We Can Go Confidently into 2021
This year has been the longest decade of my life! For months, we have all been saying, “I can’t wait for 2021.” We’re ready to get the turmoil of 2020 behind us; we’re ready for a change.
Unfortunately, it looks like the turmoil of 2020 will be replaced by the turmoil of 2021. COVID-19 cases are on the rise, even as a vaccine is being distributed. We’re about to undergo a change in government leadership, but that does not signal a decrease in conflict, dissension, or hateful rhetoric.
I’m no prophet, but I speculate that 2021 will be different from 2020: it will be worse. Aaargh. No one wants to hear that, especially me. We want a change, but we want a change for the better!
I find encouragement in one singular, critical truth: God has not changed, and He will not change. “I, the Lord, have not changed” (Mal. 3:6). The world around us can be in turmoil and change, but not God.
- God’s character has not changed. He is still the all-powerful, all-knowing sovereign Lord over all. In Psalm 102, the psalmist saw his life as transient and full of troubles, yet he had full confidence because he trusted in the Unchanging One:
“Long ago you established the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure; all of them will wear out like clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will pass away. But you are the same, and your years will never end” (Ps. 102:25-27).
- God’s plans and purposes have not changed. God doesn’t just strengthen and grow us on the pleasant days; if we let Him, He’ll use the troubles, problems, and inconveniences in life to make us more like Jesus.
“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:28-29).
Note the connection between verses 28 and 29. His purpose (v. 28) is to conform us to the image of His Son (v. 29). Making us more like Jesus is the good He wants to accomplish, and that is a part of His plan and purpose for our lives.
- God’s promises have not changed. Pick any promise from God recorded in Scripture, and you’ll see that it is intended for our benefit. He is truly a good God, and all He desires to do in our lives is good.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (Jas. 1:17).
His good promises to us still stand! “God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man, that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?” (Num. 23:19)
Take comfort in the unchanging nature and character of God. The God who loved you and blessed in the bright days of 2019 still loves you and seeks to bring blessing into your life in 2021. Change may be happening all around us, but rest in the One who is unchanging.
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