October 1, 2026
Nothing remains the same.
Many of life’s changes can be exciting, while others are heartbreaking. Though we are not caught off guard intellectually, our progressing existence often creates personal strain. Children grow up and move away. Parents grow old and eventually say goodbye. Friendships grow cold and give way to new relationships. Careers grow stagnant and mundane despite our best efforts. Our bodies grow weak as time steals our youth and vitality.
Merely looking at an old photo of yourself from twenty years ago illustrates the sheer force of the changes we cannot avoid. If we ever dare to make the statement, “I am _____,” it would not be true for long. Despite our best intentions, who we are evolves, making who we become unpredictable. Our world is not constant, and neither are we.
And yet, God remains the same (Mal. 3:6).
So much so that through a burning bush the Lord identified Himself to Moses as I AM WHO I AM (Ex. 3:14). The verb here means to exist or to be. Simply put, God is. He always was, He always is, and Healways will be. This powerful description reveals the self-sufficiency, eternality, and immutability of Yahweh.
As the self-sufficient I AM, God exists entirely within Himself without need of anyone or anything. We say, “By the grace of God, I am what I am,” but God declares, “By myself, I am what I am.” He has no needs, deficiencies, or co-dependencies.
Everything we know and experience depends upon something or someone else. A phone needs a battery. A lamp needs electricity. Our bodies need oxygen. Our lives depended upon parents before we ever took our first breath.
But God needs nothing.
No one creates Him, sustains Him, or replenishes His strength. Human hands cannot serve the One who gives life and breath to all people because He has no shortage of anything (Acts 17:24-25). God does not need our money, our talents, or our worship. He is not fortunate to have us on His team. Contrary to popular belief, if He had a refrigerator, your picture would not be on it! If He was lacking in any way (and He is not), He would not ask us for help because He owns everything (Psalm 50:10-12).
Because of these truths, we can trust God completely. Your enemies do not diminish Him; your trials do not intimidate Him; your demands do not bankrupt Him. Whatever exhausts you does not faze Him. Whatever overwhelms you does not burden Him. You don’t have to be enough when you serve the God who is. Remarkably, He chooses to love us though He needs nothing from us (1 John 4:8).
As the eternal I AM, there has never been a time when God was not, nor will there ever be a moment when He will not be. He is God from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 90:2), the One who is and who was and who is to come (Rev. 1:8). So much so that over 400 years after the deaths of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Yahweh insists that HE IS still their God (Ex. 3:6; Matt. 22:32).
We witness history like a movie, experiencing it one frame at a time. We remember yesterday, experience today, and wonder about tomorrow. Our infinite God has no such limitations. He captures your entire life in a single glance. He sees your birth and your burial simultaneously. He knows your beginning and your end because He has neither. Because He is eternally present, you can rest knowing that God will never cease to be.
As the immutable I AM, the Lord is not only infinitely present; He is also entirely unchangeable. The Creator who fashioned the heavens and the earth, both of which will one day wear out like a garment, will remain the same (Psalm 102:25-27). Circumstances change. Families change. Friendships change. Finances change. Emotions change. Health comes and goes. People we think will always be there eventually aren’t. But every change occurs in the presence of the unchanging God. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).
I AM WHO I AM. The Lord chose to reveal Himself to Moses this way because of the enormity of the task He put before His leader. After seeing their suffering and hearing their cries, God determined to come down in order to deliver the nation of Israel out of Egypt (Ex. 3:7-8). Yet, a plot much bigger than the Exodus was also unfolding. God was working to save His people, but not just the people of Israel.
Simply broadening the lens of redemptive history reveals that God was establishing a nation through whom a Savior would come into the world. Centuries later, the same I AM deliberately came down again. This time, however, He did not reveal His glory through a burning bush, but within a baby lying in a manger instead. Lest we miss the connection to the past, Jesus would later explicitly declare, “before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58).
Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, and His sacrificial death on the cross was the plan all along. From the Exodus through the Law, sacrifices, and prophets, Jesus was and is the Great I AM. While everything around us will continue to change, God will not.
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Dr. Adam B. Dooley is pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, TN, and author of Hope When Life Unravels. Contact him at adamdooley.org. Follow him on Instagram @DrAdamDooley. This column first appeared in Kentucky Today.
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