"Life is unpredictable, so what?"
I have seen and heard many folks attempt to question God. They present Him what they consider in their own understanding to be highly robust inquiries. Some fashion their words in manners like, “Why me? Why always me?” Though sorrow and hopelessness may poke so hard at one’s mind that he loses sight of what he once believed, the path of a heavenward inquisition is one a believer must never tread. Some men may act it at times, the atheist especially, but none of us really has all the answers. In his few years, it doesn’t take long for man to realize that life is unpredictable. It deals with each of us as it deems fit. This is why the preacher says in Ecclesiastes 9:11 that, “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.”
How Does God Consider All These?
One can hardly think of the subject of questioning God without remembering the case of the patriarch from the East, Job. This man, notwithstanding his overflowing riches, had proven himself to be pious and clement in all his ways. How did we come to this conclusion? God Himself, the Great Judge, declared him so before the most meticulous of accusers. Little wonder the man felt emboldened enough to summon God to his own court, which he presided over. Now, God’s response to this righteous man’s allegations against Him is indeed noteworthy. He attempts by no means to answer Job’s interrogations in a manner common to secular examination.
God’s approach to Job’s questions in Job 38-41 leads us a humbling truth: man is limited. His intellect, though superior to all of God’s creation, can never fully comprehend the grand scheme of this life. He might have plainly set out the laws of the dynamics of matter, energy and natural forces but the laws that govern life itself seem to evade him so craftily. Because if there were any formula for LIFE, then the variables would be far beyond numerable.
And Man’s Response?
These are the surrounding circumstances that sometimes cause man to react profoundly immature to life’s dealings. When he enjoys unmerited favor, he conducts no form of questioning whatsoever. But the moment things do not go as he desires, he is quick to clench his fists towards heaven and even question the existence of a Creator. Many may be quick to dissent but I am fully persuaded that though life is unpredictable, it is not unfair. And while I cannot understand it fully, I must fervently pursue that which I have been permitted to understand.
Life Is Unpredictable But What Can I Expect from It?
There Is a Time to Mourn
I am not just perplexed but completely vexed when I come across “ministers” who are proponents of doctrines that paint the believer’s sojourn as an all-rosy experience. In fact, such submissions are anti-Christ in nature. Christ declares to His disciples without mincing words in John 16:33, “In the world, you will have tribulation”. So to expect anything other than that which Christ promised is to suggest apostasy. Difficult times will definitely arise and they are not times to abandon God. If we forsake God in tough times, what other hope do we have to sustain us till the better days? I may not be able to categorically say why but I know that the believer’s tears are the adhesive that holds the clay together in the Potter’s house. No victor has been produced by God’s making that didn’t know the season of mourning.
There Is a Time to Dance
I will be a dubious teacher if I do not complete the words of Jesus in the most recently quoted verse. He went on to say, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” There is no one who knows greater joy than he who has found Christ. I have been of greater cheer in my worst days than some of my counterparts in their best days. This has only been in fulfillment of heaven’s promise to send a Comforter – the portion of every saint. We hereby come to understand that Godly sorrow produces in us everlasting joy.
The Conclusion of This Matter
At the end of all of the Preacher’s reflections in the book of Ecclesiastes, he concludes by informing us about what truly matters: the fear of God and the observation of His commandments. The only people who are truly confident in life are those who have placed their affairs in God’s hands. For though life is unpredictable, our God is unchangeable. The times may change but our God forever remains the same. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Amen!
