Monday Morning Devotion-June 12, 2023
The UnPredictable One
*first printed in July 2015
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love; so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ. Colossians 2:2-3
"You know, sometimes I just can't figure God out?" Ever felt like that? Stuff happens in your life for whose are examples of bewilderment and mystification. Ok, here's the answer. Are you sitting down? "God is predictably, unpredictable." He is truly the Unpredictable One.
Hear what Mark Batterson has to say on pg. 132 of "The Grave Robber."
"You never know exactly how or when or where God might show up and show off. But you can be sure of this: He will probably ask you to do something unprecedented; unorthodox, and unconventional. And if you have the courage to do something you haven't done in thirty-eight years, you might just experience something you haven't seen in a long, long time."
BTW, the 38-year reference is to the lame man by the waters of Bethesda who had been unable to walk all his life. Jesus asked him if he wanted to walk. He said yes and he was healed.
Gosh, if the Lord would just show up like that when we are having a problem everything would be OK wouldn't it. Well, I'm not so sure because our expectations might not fit His idea of what should take place.
In an article entitled "Encountering An Unpredictable God" in Relevant Magazine I saw this: "Most of us create within our mind a picture and concept of God that fits neatly with a three-volume systematic technology that we can proudly display on our bookshelves. Along the very noble path of attempting to explain God and His ways, we tend to domesticate His awesomeness and attempt to create Him in our image. This approach usually works well until God shows up in our midst with His manifest presence. At that point, we quickly discover our faulty misperceptions of God---namely that He is manageable and that His ways are fully rational to humans."
If we could just experience God then we could make sense of this whole thing couldn't we? But, where would we be most likely to experience God and hopefully understand this mystery more fully? Why, in church of course.
Well, Barna Research Group found that a majority of people who attend Christian Worship Services leave without feeling that they experienced God's presence. Less than one-third said they felt like they "truly interacted with God." Some regular attenders even said that "they have never experienced God's presence at any time during their life."
Sometimes people will stop expecting to have a real encounter with God and settle for the pleasant experience they have in church or other places. Is that all there is? I don't think so.
I think it is possible to have a "real encounter with God" in many different ways and in many different places. I do think that in a worship service we are presented with one of the best ways of having that occur. When our minds are stilled, and the focus is on a message of love and hope we are more likely to be aware of the Omni-present God.
As I was flipping through one of my Bibles while searching for scriptures that would shed light on this devotional message, I opened Life Application Bible to Isaiah. It is one of my number of Bibles but not one that I have referred to much recently. I used to write in my Bibles a lot. TLS doesn't like to write in her books, especially her Bibles, but I find that by doing this I can come back even years later and look at my margin notes and be reminded of some important concept or story.
Well at the top of the page in Isaiah around chapter 40 I had written way back in August of 1995 (Yes, I even date my notes sometimes :) ) :
"The measure of your comfort will always be the measure of your confidence in God."
If you are confident in your God and you call on Him, will you be able to predict how and even if God will take action. No, because God is Unpredictable.
Batterson says "To know God is to enter the cloud of unknowing…the more you know the more you know how much you don't know."
He adds, "The scripture says that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, so the word "I can't" should never leave our lips. But 'I don't know' should come out of our mouths with great regularity and humility….Your best thought on your best day falls at least 15.5 billion light-years short of how good and how great God really is."
It is a mysterious God that we are calling on. When Google the "Mystery of God" you will get some interesting answers. Here is one I uncovered; "the mystery of God is the consummation of God's plan in bringing His kingdom in Christ to fulfillment."
A mystery in the New Testament is something that had at one time been hidden but is now revealed to God's people. Jesus spoke of the "mystery of the kingdom of God." Mark 4:11. Paul used the word mystery 21 times.
In fact, in 1 Timothy 3:16 the mystery is revealed. "Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great; "He (Jesus) appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world and was taken up in glory."
There you have it. The mystery has been uncovered. Now there is no more confusion on our part because we know God sent his son Jesus, who died for our sins and is now our mediator who will help us in times of trouble. No more mystery. Now we know how things will work out. No more problems, right?
Not exactly. You see God is still predictably unpredictable. And while we know that the Almighty one is always available and will answer our prayers. We just don't know how or when they will be answered because he is, after all, Unpredictable.
Monday Prayer: Lord thank you for always being there for us. We are confident that You hear and answer our prayers, but we aren't sure how those will be answered because You are wonderfully Unpredictable. Amen