The Immutability of God in Trials

Is God really always good? As believers, it's easy for us to think about the great truths of the Gospel and sing of God's goodness together on a Sunday morning or when things in life are smooth sailing. But what about when times are dark—when things don't go the way we expect or when extreme hardships occur in our lives? What about when tragedy or illness strikes a friend or family member? During such times, can you still trust in the unchanging nature of who God is and that He is working all things out for your good and His glory?

            This idea of the unchanging nature of God is also known as God’s “immutability.” The Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q. 4) gives a great definition of this attribute by answering the question "What is God?" with the following statement: "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." There are many places in the Scriptures that speak of God’s immutability, but I want to turn to the book of James, which has been referred to as "the Proverbs of the New Testament" because of its wisdom and practical instruction for Christians on how to live out their faith. James 1:17 says:

 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

            For some background, at the beginning of this chapter, James encourages believers in their trials, but not with lukewarm and vague platitudes. Instead, he encourages believers in a counterintuitive way that holds eternal value. James commands them (and us) to "count it all joy" in their trials of various kinds. Why? Because these trials of various kinds produce steadfastness, and steadfastness, when it takes full effect, results in the believer being "perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:4). Because Jesus is the only one to ever actually be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, we can say that God uses trials to sanctify believers and make us more like Jesus, Essentially, this is another way the Apostles taught us that God’s will for His people is to become more like Christ.

The chapter highlights the concept of God's immutability by addressing a common misunderstanding we may face during extreme hardships and difficulties in our lives. When trials arise, we might be tempted to doubt God's goodness for us. However, James warns:

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. (James 1:13).

In other words, when things go wrong, or we fall into sin, we should never blame God for the temptations that come up in difficult situations God never tempts us, rather, he tests us and gives us trials to sanctify us more into the image of Christ!

What can we learn from these truths expressed so far? First, God indeed ordains trials for his people to strengthen them, and mold them into the image of Jesus. Secondly, when someone is tempted, they can never say that they are being tempted by God, because He is good and not tempted by evil. Therefore, when a Christian does wrong, they should never blame God or attribute their sin to God's influence or will.

So, what do we make of the immutability of God in James 1:17, which says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."? We can take from this that God’s character and goodness are unlike the time of day, which varies between night and day, and similarly unlike the shadows, which are caused by the moon or sun. God is unchanging.

            Tying these ideas together, we'll end with the questions we started with: What can we do during dark times? When things don't go how we expect, or when extreme hardship occurs? What we know, even from this small section of Scripture, is that we can trust in God’s promises and His character in all circumstances. We’ll end with a quote by A.W. Pink and his considerations on the immutability of God:

Human nature cannot be relied upon; but God can! However unstable I may be, however fickle my friends may prove, God changes not...All praise to his glorious name, he is ever the same. His purpose is fixed, his will is stable, his word is sure. Here then is a rock on which we may fix our feet, while the mighty torrent is sweeping away everything around us. The permanence of God's character guarantees the fulfillment of his promises.

With all these ideas in mind concerning God’s immutability, know, believer, that you can always trust that the unchanging God is working out every trial of yours for your own good and His glory!