God Doesn't Change with the Kaleidoscope of Your Life

By: Kim Killebrew

God’s immutability, unchangeableness... It is certainly not the characteristic I consider most often. Love, grace, kindness, justice, even wrath might come to mind before I contemplate his unchangeableness. However, the other day that changed for just a moment...

How often is life likened to a kaleidoscope? Probably a tiresome amount. However, it is a rather apt comparison. As the position of the tiny objects inside change even the most miniscule amount, the pictures change quite dramatically. A kaleidoscope is created to change, and sometimes change seems to be the one constant in life, too. Businesses rise and fall quarterly. The stock market soars and plummets hourly. My kids grow older and seem to enter new stages daily. And I keep waiting for the week when I will have that predictable schedule, but it never seems to come. Life moves so quickly and each of us must adapt and flex as the changes just keep on coming.

About two weeks ago, the kaleidoscope of our family life changed signifcantly. A bit of news, not bad news but certainly unexpected, suddenly brought our lives into a new focus. However, the very day we received this unexpected twist of life, I was teaching my kids about God’s unchangableness. If you didn’t know, this year’s crop of Scripture songs is focused on the attributes of God. And in God’s providence, as I was grieving this news, I was singing and putting dance steps to James 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Oh how I praise him for that sweet promise! No variation or even a shadow of change. He is perfect and his perfection is unchanging! It is nearly incomprehensible. When it seems that life’s only constant is change, I am reminded that he NEVER changes. He is really the only constant. Is there any greater comfort in life?

It’s amazing, isn’t it, how only God can order our lives, turn our own kaleidoscopes and bring another picture into view? Just the tiniest changes can shift the position of an entire family. So, now with a new perspective, I begin to make plans and set schedules to order our new life. Yet, I know that it’s just for a little while. It won’t be long before another signifcant change comes and reshapes the order, the picture. But even when my view seems to go pear-shaped, I KNOW that God’s view is clear as a bell, and I can trust him. So, I choose to trust him. May he strengthen my faith - and yours - so that we will continue to trust him now and all the days of our lives.