Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. — John 8:58
If you ask anyone who knew me when I was younger, they will tell you that I was an energetic boy that had a lot of difficulty focusing on anything for a long period of time. While I have changed a lot in my life, one thing has not changed. I still can be easily distracted when trying to focus on things. While that remained the same, I still have changed.
To be honest, I think we can all agree that things throughout our lives have caused us to change. Circumstances of life have a unique effect on us. The people around us influence us to act in certain ways. Sometimes events in life may change our perspective and cause a dramatic change in our outlook and personality. Even still, there are things about us that never change.
That is not the case with our God, however. Jesus shared a unique two-word phrase here that tells us a unique characteristic about God. Jesus said that long before Abraham ever lived, “I am.” It’s the same two words that were used many times in the Old Testament and New Testament where God talked about His always existing presence.
Throughout history, people have tried to change who God is in order to fit their ideas of what God should be. They have tried to make Him fit into specific holidays and days of the week, never to exist outside them. Others have tried to force God into their demeaning perspective where He is essentially useless or worthless in modern-day society.
The truth of the matter is that we may have changed, but God has not changed. He is still God. The same God who parted the Red Sea. He is the same God who spoke the world into existence. The same God who knows every hair on our heads and controls every aspect of our lives. Nothing in this world has changed who God is or what He is capable of, so there’s no reason to doubt His ability in whatever situation you may face today.