Rick Warren Daily Devotional (August 4, 2024) You Can Count on God.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” - James 1:17 (NIV)
When everything’s changing around you, it’s important to remember that God is a consistent Father. He will never let you down. He can be counted on. He is reliable. He is worthy of trust.
James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (NIV). God is an unchanging, consistent Father.
Human fathers are often unpredictable. I’ve talked to people who said, “Growing up, I never knew how my dad was going to treat me. I never knew if he was going to be silent or violent. I never knew whether he was going to hug me or slug me. I never knew if he was going to take me in or reject me.” Inconsistent fathers produce insecure children.
But God is not moody. He does not change in his character or his feelings about you. Nothing you could do would make God love you more, and nothing you could do would make God love you less. Your heavenly Father is consistent. One of the things you can count on is that God always acts the same toward you.
The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (NIV).
We know that the world is changing faster than ever before. Years ago, the futurist, Alvin Toffler, wrote that in times of rapid change, people need “islands of stability.” When everything else is up in the air, you need something in your life that never changes as an anchor for your soul. You need an island of stability in order to handle the stress.
There’s only one problem: On this planet, nothing lasts. There’s only one thing you can count on that will never change, only one thing that will give you permanent stability, and that’s the consistent, caring love of your heavenly Father. As you get to know God and experience his love for you, you’ll find solid footing in a shaky, inconsistent world.
“My God is changeless in his love for me” (Psalm 59:10 TLB).
You can count on that.
Talk It Over
- What have you used as an island of stability in your life?
- How does stability reduce stress?
- What are the good and perfect gifts in your life that are evidence of God’s unchanging love for you?
