Unpredictable
Where I live, I would hate to be a meteorologist. Trying to predict the weather here is like predicting the final score of a game that hasn’t been played yet. You might get close, but accurately predicting the exact score of two teams before they meet doesn’t happen often.
I can imagine it might be that way in most places. Often there’s nothing more disappointing than getting one’s hopes up based on a prediction of something only to find it will not happen after all. People make plans based on some predictions, such as an extended forecast.
When our kids were much younger, we would go on vacation to the beach as a family. The timing of the vacation depended on what dates were available on the schedule for the condo we would use. A wonderful brother in the Lord provided ministry families free stays at this condo, but you had to get on the schedule for it.
Every time we scheduled, we ended up in September after the hurricane season had started. That meant taking a chance that the weather would be good. We experienced a vacation enduring a severe tropical storm one year before we could enjoy the beach. It could have been a real bummer because we were spending our time grabbing towels to try to stop the water from running into the condo around the seams of the windows due to the high winds. We couldn’t sleep well due to the howling noise of the wind on the windows. We were a bit nervous about our vehicle as the waves washed all the way to the condo parking lot where our van was.
But we were grateful for this amazing gift of a free condo for a family vacation, and we determined that although it wasn’t going as we had hoped, we would consider this as part of our family adventure and enter it into the catalog of family memories. As it turned out, the shore fishing was incredible once the storm passed and things calmed down! The morning walks to find sea shells provided way more exciting finds. The remaining days we had were excellent. We just had to weather the storm for the first part of our stay.
My family had never been in a tropical storm like that, so it was scary. But we decided to hang in there rather than give up and go home. We were glad we did. We now have great memories and a story to share from that experience.
You know, like the weather or scheduling a vacation in a hurricane zone during hurricane season can be unpredictable, life generally is that way. You can never be sure what you’ll be faced with. You know there will be times when your expectations will not be met. What you choose to think and do about such times will determine the kind of story you will tell later.
In John 16, Jesus is preparing His disciples for a difficult time. Jesus is about to be betrayed into the hands of men and crucified, and His disciples will scatter. They will have a bad experience that will blow up their expectations. To prepare them, Jesus says,
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.b But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
I do not know what you might be going through or how many expectations may have been shattered. But I know this much you can choose what to think and do about it as you look to Jesus and ask for the help of the Holy Spirit. I encourage you today to turn your thoughts and concerns over to Jesus and allow Him to give you His peace amid your storm. I promise He will help you through this. It may not be going as you had expected it to start, but it can become one of your more remarkable stories in life if you allow Jesus to help you through it. Grace and peace to you today in Jesus, my friend. You have an Advocate who gives you the Holy Spirit as a Comforter today. You are greatly loved regardless of what might be happening at this moment.
