When Times Change

October 21, 2025

• Amanda Beres is a writer and freelance editor based in Rhode Island. She has a Master's in Professional Writing and Communication and has worked with The Global Poetics Project and Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.

So this is part one of what will most likely be a running series. I want to talk about change. Currently, I am going through some big transitions… and really have to open up and be vulnerable before God.  Vulnerability is scary, but as the old saying goes, “Change is the only constant” (not my words, you can thank ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus). Life is full of new, exciting, big, wonderful, frightening, sometimes bad, and anxiety-inducing transitions. Many times (and if we’re honest, most of the time),  we will feel it’s not fair. “Why did this happen to me? When will things get better? I just don’t understand what’s happening right now. Why is God doing this to me?” Sound familiar? I know it does for me. So what do we do when life decides to be life? Bring in the only thing that truly is constant, and the only one who never changes: invite God into the change! But this leads to an interesting question…why do we have to invite God into it? Isn’t He already everywhere? Well, yes, but He’s a gentleman. Let’s break this down and talk about it. 

Starting with Hebrews 13:8-  “Jesus Christ is [eternally changeless, always] the same yesterday and today and forever” (AMP). We see here that the Amplified version of the Bible says Jesus is eternally changeless. The NIV version doesn’t include the parentheses, but makes the same claim: that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do the NASB, CSB, NLT, NKJV, and TPT versions of the Bible. The Passion Translations adds in that Jesus is the anointed one. Now, you may be wondering what’s up with all these versions of the Bible, and we will get into that later (or in another blog post). The point is, whichever translation you prefer, it says the same thing: Christ does not change, who Christ is does not change, God does not change,  His promises do not change, the power of the blood of Christ does not change! 

Number 23:19 says, “God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” (NIV).  So God is not human, so He doesn’t lie, and doesn’t need to change His mind. Get it? Got it? Good! This means when He speaks, and when He promises, He is faithful to His word. He acts and performs when and how He says He will. Get it? Got it? Good! Sooooo, if God is not human, keeps His promises, is faithful, and doesn’t lie, why would He need to change His mind? Why would He need to change at all? Get it? Got it? Good!  Taking it even just a bit further, the Amplified version says God is not a son of man that He should repent. Repent is to turn away from doing something wrong and show remorse for the wrong that you have done. And God is not a man that He should repent. This means He never does anything wrong! Get it? Got it? Good! 

But what about the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament? They might seem pretty different. One flooded the earth due to the evil of mankind, the other willingly forgave their sins. Well, God still hates evil, but we now also have the blood of Christ. Let me explain.

In the Old Testament, the priests had to make sacrifices on behalf of Israel. To repay for sin, to repay for evil, they would offer up a goat, calf, or lamb. A spotless, without blemish, goat, calf, or lamb. If you’re a Christian yourself, you know where I’m going with this. If you’re not, then allow me to go a little deeper. So, God hates sin, and the wages of sin are death. Harsh, right? Until you realize that was the whole point of Jesus Christ dying on the cross! To take on the death that should have been ours! The wages of sin were still death, as God said, just not our death! And before you go saying, then why do people still die… we have eternal life in Christ. He died to give us life and life abundantly! Christ’s death not only gave us eternal life with God, but also the right to live freely here on earth! Because of Christ, we can now live under grace, love, mercy, and freedom rather than under the law. As James 2:8-13 puts it:  

“8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”

The law did not change. God did not change. Who bore and continues to bear the weight of His law changed. What this law of liberty and love, we will get into in another blog post (I told you it would be an ongoing series). But for now, we need to understand this, God did not change His mind, and His law is still His law.  But Jesus took and continues to take the full weight of the Law of Himself, so that we can live under love, grace, forgiveness and mercy! 

Okay, so we got this part down for now. Now, the part about why we invite God into the change. He is everywhere, and He is all-knowing. He is always with us. But He is also a gentleman. He will not bust His way into whatever situation is happening. God desires to walk us through the transition, but He also desires a relationship with us. How amazing is that? The God who never changes His mind, never does anything wrong, and never lies, wants to know us! Why is this so important? Because if God never changes His mind, and wants to know us, then that means He loves us and cares for us that much! 

On Sunday, October 12th, my pastor said something interesting. We were reading the book of Hebrews, which has some of my personal favorite Bible  verses. Hebrews chapter 5 focuses on the fact that Jesus is our High Priest. My pastor said something that hit hard, “God never changes, so why are we praying like He does?” And if that ain’t so true! He promises to never leave or forsake us. He promises to withhold no good thing. He promises to honor the desire of our hearts if we delight in Him. He promises to protect us from and deal with all our enemies. So why do we pray like He can’t or won’t? And here’s the real kicker: God never changes His mind, but how often do we change ours? I don’t have the answer for this, being guilty as charged. But I do know this, Christ is a constant. He will never leave. When the Bible says He is the solid rock, and to lean not on your own understanding, there’s a reason. There’s a lot more to explore here and I hope you’ll join me for the ride!

Blessings,

Amanda Beres