(3) God: Immutable in His Purpose & Plans

I make known the end from the beginning,

from ancient times, what is still to come.

I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.

(Isaiah 46:10 NIV)

But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,

the purposes of his heart through all generations.

(Psalm 33:11 NIV)

God’s purposes and plans are unchanging. What God decreed remains the same, unchanged and unchangeable. In fact, scripture repeatedly speaks of God’s purposes and plans as existing and being initiated in eternity past. They are called His “eternal purpose.” God has set His-story in motion from before creation stating that He has made the end known from the very beginning. The purposes and plans for His-story remain exactly the same from creation to eternity future. God finishes what He starts.

This is critical if we are to have any confidence for the future. If God can change His plans then the future plans He has declared in His Word are meaningless. Prophecy becomes maybe, we’ll see. Paul could not comfort the Thessalonian believers regarding the future if God could change plans at any time. We would be left with instability, fear, uncertainty and anxiety.

But, God has a plan; a plan He has set forth from before creation. He is working that plan and He will never stop working that plan. This is a great comfort for us. It is peace, strength and confidence.

Human beings change plans, begin something and then stop, fail to plan ahead and then fail. Man changes his mind about what matters in life and in the world and what causes man should invest his energies into. This will never happen with God. We don’t have to worry about whether God will change His mind and decide to move in a different direction with a new plan.

We can find stability in the immutability of God’s plans and purpose. Rather than devising our own insignificant man-sized plans dreamed up in our futile thinking, we can join God in His God-sized, eternal, all-wise plans. Investing our lives into furthering God’s purposes and plans leads to a life of meaning, significance and stability. Don’t be blown about by the winds of change. Find rock-solid stability in the eternal, unchanging purposes and plans of God.


Next: (4) God: Immutable in His Promises