Two weeks from today, an important voting responsibility arrives. Ohioans will head to the polls to select our next U.S. senator, governor, secretary of state, and attorney general. Voters will also weigh in on national and local matters. Many reading this post likely have growing concerns about our state's, our nation's, and even our world's trajectory. We likely sense more than ever the impact of living as sojourners and exiles, awaiting the day of our Lord’s return and our eternal home (1 Pet 2:11-12; 2 Pet 3:11-13). Some of us, with desperate hope, cry out daily, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20). Rightly so. Yet as we live in this world, we recognize and strive toward Jeremiah’s heartbeat: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer 29:7). This posture of living protects us from despair, apathy, and any imbalance of heart that refuses the reality of God’s absolute sovereignty over absolutely all cosmic and earthly affairs. In the words of A.W. Tozer, “Chance and change are busy in our little world of nature and men, but in [God] we find no variables nor shadow of turning.”1 There is tension in our hearts as we navigate the temporal darkness of daily experience (1 John 5:19) and the time when the Lord Himself will forever be our light (Rev 22:5). But we should be grateful believers—abundantly, confidently, and joyfully grateful—knowing that the God who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ (Col 1:19-22) does not drift from His nature (Mal 3:6), nor does He deprive His people of His good promises (Num 23:19).
I want to accomplish two things in this post. First, I want to briefly remind us of our God's unchanging nature (immutability). Second, I want to show two ways God’s immutability impacts our hearts in light of the upcoming election.
A thorough treatment of God’s immutability would require a series of posts, so for those wanting a longer trek up that mountain, check out Stephen Charnock’s tome, The Existence and Attributes of God. It will suffice here to use Tozer’s words: “To say that God is immutable is to say that He never differs from Himself.”2 Beyond a simple definition, Tozer qualifies how God remains constant:
“For a moral being to change it would be necessary that the change be in one of three directions. He must go from better to worse or from worse to better; or, granted that the moral quality remain stable, He must change within Himself, as from immature to mature or from one order of being to another. It should be clear that God can move in none of these directions. His perfections rule out any such possibility.”3
Consider the words of these Psalms:
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:1-2)
Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
but you are the same, and your years have no end. (Ps 102:25-27)
You are good and do good. (Ps 119:68)
The LORD is righteous in all His ways
and kind in all his works. (Ps 145:17)
God’s unwavering nature anchors us when we face storms of various trials—even the trial of uncertainty about election outcomes. Just ask James the apostle (Jas 1:2-18). It is exactly because God is unchangeably steadfast that we can remain steadfast and mature through trials. Have we considered how God would have this election cycle produce Christlikeness in us? We ought not to waste such a time as this! God is not waiting to react to ballot results. He has already ordained and commanded all things to work for our ultimate good and His glory (Rom 8:28-30). His goodness is unchangeable. He is unchangeably trustworthy. He knows what is best as He sees His children through seasons of hardship and blessing. How will we live Coram Deo, before the face of God?
I’ve already tipped my hand concerning how God’s immutability impacts our hearts in light of the upcoming election: We can trust Him. Pointing again to Tozer: “In this world where men forget us, change their attitude toward us as their private interests dictate, and revise their opinion of us for the slightest cause, is it not a source of wondrous strength to know that the God with whom we have to do changes not?.. In coming to Him at any time we need not wonder whether we shall find Him in a receptive mood.”4 If our hope lies in a political party or how issues are handled, it is very likely that our idol is not God and that our true home is not beyond this earth. The good news, though, is that God's faithfulness and justice never change, and he forgives and cleanses us when we confess our sin (1 John 1:8-10). If we have given ourselves over to a political downpour of “what-ifs,” we must recalibrate our hearts to rightly understand that God’s character and promises never expire.
A second way God’s immutability affects us during election season is by shaping our heart posture toward all candidates, policy aside. Our thinking, our process of valuing, and our ultimate commitments should be shaped by God’s character and priorities. The contrast between God’s immutability and humanity’s lack of perfection should give us hope about humanity’s capacity for change. Tozer is once again helpful: “For human beings the whole possibility of redemption lies in their ability to change. To move across from one sort of person to another is the essence of repentance: the liar becomes truthful, the thief honest, the lewd pure, the proud humble. The whole moral texture of the life is altered. The thoughts, the desires, the affections are transformed, and the man is no longer what he had been before.” 5 Our greatest desire this election cycle should not be for candidates to be conformed to our will; rather, we should desire God to reconcile all unbelieving candidates to Himself. We are commanded to intercede for all who hold leadership positions. Consider 1 Timothy 2:1-6:
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
As we consider the issues on the ballot, let us not forget God’s higher priority. If God desires that those holding or aspiring to high positions be saved, shouldn’t we? Media outlets are inundating us with reasons to despise candidates. They do not miss an opportunity to launch direct attacks on character, not just policy. Justified or not, let us lean Godward in how we process this election and away from fleshly impulses. Like you, I want a peaceful life for my family. But more than that, we should labor to see men's souls liberated from the domain of darkness and to sense the wonder of returning to right relationship with their Creator. We should want our political enemies to repent and become our fellow-worshippers in glory.
God’s immutability is a treasure. He does not change, though we constantly require change. He remains faithful even when we are faithless (2 Tim 2:13). His eternal priorities eclipse our earthly ones. This election season, let us approach the polls with joyful confidence in God’s good plans and eagerness for men everywhere to be saved.
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1. A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (Harper One, 1961), 49.
2. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, 49.
3. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, 49.
4. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, 53.
5. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, 51-52.
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