Everyone has certain patterns by which they operate. “He always does this,” someone might say of you. “I think she’ll respond this way, for that’s what she normally does,” you might say of a friend.
There is something extraordinary when you come to understand the ways of your friend. Especially in a marriage, it is easier to be a completor and helper to your mate if you grasp how they will respond. It is easier to cooperate with them. And, on the receiving end, it is wonderful to be known in such depth.
GOD’S WAYS
We are created in God’s image, and the fact that we have patterns is a residual effect of how we were created. Sin has damaged this, of course, but just as we have our ways, so does God. Knowing God’s ways is highly important in understanding and following Him.
Moses grasped this and prayed a prayer that we should be praying.
“Now, therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight.” (Exodus 33:14a)
PERFECT IMMUTABILITY
God can do whatever He desires, but He is immutable. The word means “unchanging over time.” Since He is and always has been perfect, there is no need for adjustment. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever,” Hebrews 13:8 proclaims.
Therefore, as we walk with Him and study His Word, we can know His ways and, in doing so, we come to know Him. Paul’s highest goal was to know God (Philippians 3). The more we know Him, the more we love Him. And the more we love Him, the more we will follow Him and glorify Him before others. And this pleases God more fully.
As you walk with Him over the years, you will come to know His ways as you commune with Him by His Word and His Spirit. You can anticipate His responses and more intuitively know exactly where He is headed. “Let’s don’t go there,” you find yourself saying, “For that is not God’s way.”
We should pray this prayer often: “Let me know Your ways,” with a single end goal: “That I may know You.”
Father, thank You for Your immutability. You have been the same continuously for You are perfect in all Your ways. Help us to know Your ways so we may join with You and be pleasing to You. Open our eyes to Your ways even today. And thank You that You are willing to make Yourself known!
