How to Name Inseparable Ingredients of a Never-Changing God

I’m writing by candlelight while walking but I can’t stop. Here, another name. There, two more. I’m chasing the God I’m finding as I read:

Strength, Song, Warrior, Enemy Vanquisher.

Glory Displayer, Pillar Positioned to Protect,

Breath-Wind, and Sanctuary.

People Purchaser, People Planter, Great Victor,

Our Healer, Bread From Heaven,

Hunger Satisfier, and Hearer of Complaints.

Water Supplier, Battle Flag, Helper,

Rescuer, Burden Easer, Owner of the Earth,

Boundary Definer, and People Treasurer.

Purifier, Sheer Holiness, Thick Presence,

Sacred Name, and Jealous God.

Rumble of Thunder, Leader, Liberator,

Sabbath Creator, Relationship Advisor,

Heart Discerner, and Deserver of the Best.

Awe Instiller, Shower of Blessings,

Righter of Wrongs, and Hearer of the Oppressed.

Perfect Pioneer, Celebration,

Strategic Leader, Connection Initiator,

Beholden Beauty, and Weighty Glory.

I survey jolty cursive scripted into the margins of my Bible, a bit undone over by how many names emerge from a day’s reading* in the book of Exodus. They overlap in places I lingered, like inseparable ingredients of Eternal God.

Many names, and yet only One.

Multi-facted, yet alone worthy of worship.

Here’s a God gloriously complex and infinitely holy, offered to us with the invitation to be understood. Honored. Adored.

Here’s a God gloriously complex and infinitely holy, offered to us with the invitation to be understood. (Twyla Franz quote)

God IS, and He Never Changes

This God of endless names, the God who IS, reveals Himself as YAHEH, which sounds like breath. “I AM WHO I AM,” He says to Moses. YAHWEH is who I am! “This is what you should tell the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to rescue you” (Exodus 3:14, The Voice).

This Breath-Wind God, without beginning or end, is our Forever Reining King, our Right-Now Hope, our Face-to-Face Friend.

God IS and He never changes. He’s the essence of all that’s good and holy and worthy of worship. He’s Strength and Song, Sacrifice and Substitute, Spirit of Wisdom, a Shield, and Our Amply Supply. Every feature of His face, every outpouring of grace, every tender turning towards us when we break His heart–it’s Him. Was Him, is Him, always will be Him.

God’s Desire to be Known

God’s never-changing nature—what a comfort! I AM wants to be known, so He gives us glimpses on every page of His Word. I never thought to look for Him in this way until Ann Voskamp’s question—“Who do I say God is today? (Mark 8:29)”—sent me on a treasure hunt.

I AM wants to be known, so He gives us glimpses on every page of His Word. (Twyla Franz quote)

In Exodus 28:30, I read how God makes a way for Aaron to be in His presence: “This way he will always have with him a way to know My will and make sound decisions for the people of Israel” (The Voice). I write KNOWN in capital letters because somehow this explains every other name that makes up the fullness of Christ.

He wants us to know Him as Delighter in Variety, Detail Fine-Tuner, Willing Heart, Illuminator, Expert Designer, Forever Priest, Trustworthy Doctor, the Finest, Sweetest Fragrance, and Bearer of Our Death-Requiring Consequences.

With every name I write my hunger grows. I’m treading light on holy ground. Time slows, and I linger, pondering how He’s both Devouring Fire and Soft Embrace. How His holiness demands equal holiness, and yet He always makes a way for us to reach Him, to come near, not because we’re ever close to the mark, but because He erased everything and covered us with His very own cloak of righteousness.

God invites us to trace the unfolding of His never-changing nature through history, book by book, page by page, Spirit-breathed word by Spirit-breathed word.

Because I AM wants to be known, He welcomes our inquisitive minds to ask Him hard questions. He makes Himself accessible to us as we grapple with apparent paradox and unlikely juxtaposition.

He doesn’t retreat when we entreat, “Show us your glory!” (Exodus 33:18-23).

I AM Still Weeps

As I write, we’re getting layers of snow and ice while neighborhoods in California go up in flames. I’m seeing haunting videos of fire and hearing of homes with no heat–as are you. And maybe in the middle of all the groan and grief, we think God either isn’t still good, or that He never was.

What I do know is that God weeps.

Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus died (John 11:35). Literally, He “groaned in the spirit and was troubled” (John 11:33, NKJV).

Old Testament God reveals Himself as jealous and emphatic, torn by our continual turning away from Him.

God feels emotion. He knows heartbreak and forgiveness. He cries.

The never-changing nature of God tells me that He weeps with us today as He did in days of old.

And maybe that doesn’t make all the hard go away, but it means we’re not alone in it. And isn’t that what all these names have been pointing to? God with us. Emmanuel, not just at Christmas, but when the world groans and hearts ache and eyes leak.

YAWEH, the God who IS, has always desired to be with us. He has, and does, want to live amongst us and be our God. These ancient words still capture God’s heart:

I will make my home among you and never turn away from you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.

Lev. 26:11-12

God came for us–not just as baby Jesus, but as Pillars of Cloud and Fire, as Covenant Rememberer, as Promise, Planter, Pruner, as Just Judge, and Empath.

Let’s pray.

God, even when all is changing around us, and even before we can grasp the gravity of Who you are, You are never-changing. Draw us to You. Teach us Your nature. May we long to be with You as You long to be near us and known by us.

* I’m taking Mary Demuth’s 90-Day Bible Reading challenge (and you can too!). Sign up HERE.

** Ann Voskamp’s Sacred Prayer journal is the one I’m using, and her questions gives space to record who God is, where we are in relation to God, and more. I find it dovetails beautifully with Mary’s challenge.

Just a friend over here in your corner,