By Todd Paetznick, June 20, 2024

Change is constant.  A significant part of our lives is spent adapting to whatever changes around us.  Adaptation is such an important skill for people that it generally sets successful people apart from unsuccessful ones.  When something changes in our working world, we adapt, and the organizations we work for adapt.  The companies that refused to adapt and change at the advent of the Industrial Revolution have ceased to exist.  An ability to adapt is considered a strength for people and organizations.  This makes sense to us; we have all observed people who identified some change or problem in the world, did something about it, and profited from their innovative solution.  

And yet, some things do not change that are also extremely valuable.  My day job is in cybersecurity.  The trick to identifying when something bad is happening inside computer systems is recognizing change outside of what is normal and expected.  Computers are built to process data, which means they transform (change) data into something else. The challenge for preventing bad things from happening in computer systems can’t be preventing all change since that would make them worthless; instead, they must recognize, prevent, and correct undesirable changes.  How can that be done?  By learning the regular patterns of behavior.  Ironically, the predictable process used by a computer system to transform data becomes what does not change. 

In our experience, there are many patterns of change that are normal and expected.  The changing of the seasons is a pattern we expect every year.  The everyday change-over from darkness to light marked by the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening is a pattern.  The orbit of the moon around the Earth is a pattern.  If the sun did not appear to rise some morning, that would be a deviation from what was expected, which would be immediately recognized and cause widespread panic.  

Computer viruses and malware are a big problem for computer systems.  It is the rare system that has never been infected with a virus, attacked with malware, or threatened by a phishing attack.  Multi-billion-dollar companies exist to protect computer systems and data from bad people.  Why do they bother?  Our passwords and account numbers can be used to access bank and credit card accounts to steal our real money.  Stealing is nothing new, but the modern dynamic is unique in human history.  The personal risk for the bad people is very low, and their reward is very high.  From the comfort, privacy, and safety of their homes, they can steal from people they have never met, from countries they have never visited, without fearing the consequences of being caught. There is almost no risk for people who lack moral qualms about stealing.

Thousands of years ago, Solomon wrote, “What has been, it is what will be, And what has been done, it is what will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NASB20).  Under the sun, meaning on the earth.  Nothing is new, not at all, meaning there are no new discoveries, innovations, or solutions to problems, but human behavior does not change.  People have the same selfish desires that have existed since people were created.  People tend to behave in expected and predictable ways.  There is a pattern of behavior that does not change in people.  

God is also unchanging.  This does not mean that God is static but that His pattern of behavior is consistent and predictable.  For many people, this observation can greatly change what they believe about a God who says of Himself that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).  God remains consistently the same in character and His patterns of behavior. The more we study the Bible and seek to know the mind of God, the better we will see Him in patterns.  What may seem on the surface to be unjust or uncaring can be understood as one part of a pattern of grace and love.  Without seeing the entire pattern, however, one small portion can seem to be morally wrong.

Change is constant, but patterns of the behavior of people are consistent.  Change is constant, but our God is unchanging in His character and His ways; He always has been and He always will be the same.