Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation nor shadow of turning. –James 1:17, DARBY Translation
But in God, there aren't these two things:
- variation (that means “change”)
- shadow of turning (that means “shifting shadows” in the NIV)
Variation, we understand perfectly well: God never changes. His decisions are final, His word is eternal. That’s what makes Him perfect! Even the author of Hebrew perfectly declares, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 4:12)”.
But what about those “shadows of turning”? All I could get was “trope”, meaning “a turning of the heavenly bodies” in Greek. And it makes sense.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter… those big things we call “planets” are actually satellites of the Sun. And as satellites, they all have to circle around the sun: some take mere days, the Earth takes a year, others take a century or two.
God doesn’t work that way: He doesn’t turn away from us; we turn away from Him. He doesn’t move away from us; we move away from Him. He doesn’t even think of leaving us; we leave Him. Satellites come and go, but He stays there.
Why do we want to plunge our life in shadows, if God is there? What is our unhealthy obsession with separating us from the Sun and plunging our lives into shadows? (That doesn’t mean you are going to get skin cancer; PLEASE understand the metaphor!)