A Change of Mind

President Donald Trump has changed his mind.

He has done the very thing which he urged President Obama not to do. He has done the very same thing which he assured Americans that he would not do if he were president. The reactions are as trite as they are disingenuous. Some Republican party members reveal, yet again, a serious cause to wonder about the mind of our national leaders. Some have cried that had they known President Trump would do as he has done towards Syria, that is as what they see, an involvement in the middle east they would have voted for Clinton. Briefly, here is why that is so farcical.

We have heard for years and we remember Trump’s and the entire Republican party telling us how they would at lightning speed repeal and replace President Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act. There is no one to blame for the fact of that debacle then the Republicans, this despite their majority control in Washington. Americans could reason similarly: If they had known the Republicans were going to be so inept and incompetent in their own plans towards their own party member in the White House, then they could have just opted to stay the course with the equally same group of inept and incompetent politicians.

I have said for several decades that once a man gets into the White House the sobering reality begins to set in on them. Trump is experiencing it as much as Obama, Bush, Clinton and every president who has served.

Yes, a change of mind is not always good. Yes, sometimes it is bad.
The charges of lying and hypocrisy abound, but I think the worse part of it is when the individual shows or offers absolutely nothing or any reason for the change of mind. Unless you have never changed your mind about anything than, really, you do not know about what you speak. Americans, but also Christians, have the option to change their minds and for the latter to be at a loss about these things may suggest their own change of mind concerning what they profess as their standard of authority, namely, the scriptures.

It is the scriptures which reveal for the saints in Christ, that is, Christians an abundance of instances of a change of mind. I will not even cite human examples. I will refer to instances in which God changed his mind after He had declared his purpose. Of course, this is precisely one of those things which curls some people’s hair concerning God, but one of the things it reveals is that God is not afraid or squeamish so as to not display some of what is common with us humans. I will refer to two instances in which God changed his mind. I will refer to a third instance for it’s uniqueness as it involved a people with whom did not have a covenant.

God changes his mind concerning mankind

The first instance occurred not long after the creation account which is related in Genesis. The wickedness, evil and immorality of man is what filled his mind such that God repented of the creation of his hands and set his purpose in motion to destroy mankind through the flood. (Genesis 6)

God changes his mind concerning Israel

The second instance was after God had delivered Israel through his servant Moses from four hundred years of slavery  in Egypt, triumphantly. Israel was on their way to Canaan, the land which God had promised to Abraham that He would give to his descendants. Of course, for those who have even the most superficial familiarity of the history of Israel they know that God changed his mind. Israel, or at least the adult generation from age twenty one years and older died in the wilderness. They perished in the wilderness as the result of their unbelief of God which prompted God to change his mind and rescinded (Numbers 14) the promise for that particular generation. It was their children, the children whom they thought would die in the wilderness, which God allowed to enter the land of promise.

God changes his mind concerning Nineveh

A third instance involves the people of the city of Nineveh. God sent his prophet Jonah to the distant city of Nineveh. Jonah was not sent to preach a message of hope or repentance. No, his message was quite brief and direct: forty days and Nineveh would be destroyed. The king believed the preaching of Jonah (see the book of Jonah which consists of four short chapters) and he humbled himself. He called on the people of Nineveh to do likewise. The humility  and repentance of Nineveh move God. He change his mind. (Of course, Jonah’s reaction was, to understate, disappointment, but that is for you to read. By the way, Jonah's resentment was not unlike some modern resentments concerning involvement in other countries and other people.) The destruction of Nineveh was called off and the people were spared.

sin

All of these three instances of God changing his mind have something in common. The change of mind by God was not without reason. The common element in all three instances was sin. In the first instance there was no repentance by the people. In the second instance Israel repeatedly and historically would vacillate between sin and repentance. The one thing which stood between Israel and God was the promise which God made to Abraham that God would make him a great nation, hence, his long-suffering and patience with Israel. In the third instance Nineveh was not a people in covenant with God. They were not called to repent, yet they repented and God changed his mind.

conclusion

So, while President Trump, as every president, both Republican and Democrat, have changed their mind about various thing once they came into office this is only as every one of us as human beings have done and do continually in our lives. God changed his mind. It may play well to blast those who changed their mind, but whether or not we agree with them if they are able to substantiate the reason for their change of mind this is what we human expect and hope from each other.

Is the only way you view a person who changes their mind as liar and a hypocrite or a Republican or a Democrat? If you can do so without pondering and examining your own flawed nature (sin is what the scriptures call it) than it is no surprise and I can only pray that you will change your mind. What is even greater than a change of mind is a turning around of your mind, what the scripture calls repentance which leads a transformation of heart, mind, soul and strength as your love is directed towards God, your creator.

Be blessed in Jesus.

(The Indwelling of Deity in the Believer is back online. gt)