Living With the Unpredictable
Recently there has been a commercial on TV in which a guy in a truck yells to the people in the car next to him something like, “I’m going to be distracted as I eat my sandwich and swerve into your lane.” Then a woman in a convertible warns the people in the car next to her that she is going to be putting on her makeup while driving and cut them off. In the final scene, a guy gets out of his car in a parking lot, goes over to the people in another car who are getting ready to pull out, and warns them that he will be talking on his cell phone, not paying attention to what is behind him, and back up into them. The point is that accidents don’t announce themselves (thus, you need to make sure you have the right car insurance!).
It’s true, accidents don’t announce themselves. Life is filled with the unpredictable. The weather forecasters may try to predict the weather; the economists may try to predict the stock market; the pollsters may try to predict the outcome of elections; the medical community may try to predict what will happen in our bodies, all to help us prepare for what may come. In the end, however, we all know that the weather, the markets, the voters, and our bodies can all do pretty strange things. We don’t know what is going to happen from one day to the next. We are constantly living with the unexpected. We are always living with the unpredictable.
Although we may do our best to plan and prepare and predict what may be on the horizon of our lives, we have to be honest with ourselves and admit that much of life is out of our control. Every day there are twists and turns for which we cannot prepare. That is why the Bible says, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow….Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.’” (James 4:13-16 – NIV)
When it comes to dealing with the unpredictability of life, the best thing we can do is submit ourselves to the will of God and rest in the fact that ultimately our lives are in his hands. Although we may not know what will happen tomorrow, he does. And, he has promised to always be with us and to help us through every unexpected twist and turn that may come our way.
As the old song writer once put it: “Many things about tomorrow, I don’t seem to understand. But I know who holds tomorrow. And I know who holds my hand.” It is with that assurance that each of us can step into a seemingly unpredictable tomorrow.
Have a great day!
-Pastor Tim Harris
It’s true, accidents don’t announce themselves. Life is filled with the unpredictable. The weather forecasters may try to predict the weather; the economists may try to predict the stock market; the pollsters may try to predict the outcome of elections; the medical community may try to predict what will happen in our bodies, all to help us prepare for what may come. In the end, however, we all know that the weather, the markets, the voters, and our bodies can all do pretty strange things. We don’t know what is going to happen from one day to the next. We are constantly living with the unexpected. We are always living with the unpredictable.
Although we may do our best to plan and prepare and predict what may be on the horizon of our lives, we have to be honest with ourselves and admit that much of life is out of our control. Every day there are twists and turns for which we cannot prepare. That is why the Bible says, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow….Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.’” (James 4:13-16 – NIV)
When it comes to dealing with the unpredictability of life, the best thing we can do is submit ourselves to the will of God and rest in the fact that ultimately our lives are in his hands. Although we may not know what will happen tomorrow, he does. And, he has promised to always be with us and to help us through every unexpected twist and turn that may come our way.
As the old song writer once put it: “Many things about tomorrow, I don’t seem to understand. But I know who holds tomorrow. And I know who holds my hand.” It is with that assurance that each of us can step into a seemingly unpredictable tomorrow.
Have a great day!
-Pastor Tim Harris
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