Does God change His mind?

This week I was studying the Book of Jonah in preparation to teach our Sunday School class. I remembered that when I studied Jonah when I was writing this particular lesson, there was a scripture that provoked some thought in my mind about whether or not God changes His mind.

“10. Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.” Jonah 3:10 (NKJV)

After the Ninevites turned away from their wickedness and turned to God, they were spared from the destruction Jonah had warned them God would certainly bring upon their city. But does that mean that God changed His plans. Does He ever change His mind? In this passage and many others, it sure seems that He does.

However, that seems to go against everything we believe about God. God is all-wise. If He changes His mind, doesn’t that mean that He didn’t know what was going to happen in advance? If He changes His direction, then does that mean that He was heading in a wrong direction in the beginning?

As with all theological debates, there is an answer that will not contradict a single verse of Scripture. First of all, let it be noted and always remembered that there will never be a need for God to change His mind. He knows the ending as well as He knows the beginning. He is, and always will be, operating according to His original plan.

So, what could this passage mean when it says that God relented or, as other versions say, God repented? God brought to my mind something that happened to me when I was a child. And I suddenly had a clear understanding of what the phrase "God relented..." means.

My younger brother was playing baseball at a local park one evening. An unexpected storm blew into the little valley in which that baseball field was located. I tried to climb the hill to get to our car, but I was climbing against the wind. I was quite small and the wind was like a wall in front of me. I couldn’t get up the hill because the wind stopped me still in my tracks. So I turned around and ran down the hill to a place of safety. It was almost as if the wind picked me up and placed me there. I felt like I was flying.

Now, did the wind relent from its original direction? No, the wind was blowing just as hard as ever in the same direction, but it was no longer blowing against me. I could move freely because I had changed my direction and the wind then blew in my favor. The wind didn’t change direction, but I changed in reference to it. It seemed like the wind changed, but I was the one that changed.

The winds of God’s judgment never change their direction. But like the Ninevites, we can change our direction in reference to it. God’s judgment is either for us or against us. We can either be destroyed by His judgment or we can be delivered to safety by it. God never changes, but at the point of our salvation He changes us and in so doing He protects us from His right and sure judgment.