A seminary student once asked Eugene Peterson what he liked best about being a pastor.  He replied, “The mess.”  Personally, I would use the word, “The unpredictability.” We will never know what will happen tomorrow.  Somebody, who is healthy today, may get sick tomorrow and somebody who is happy may be unhappy tomorrow.  But that is life, isn’t it?  We will never know what will happen next.

Last week we buried Tante Gwi, wife of Oom Kiat, and tomorrow, God’s willing, we will bury Tante Agnes.  They were still with us several weeks ago but today they are already with Jesus in Heaven.  Life is unpredictable and all efforts to make it predictable are bound to fail.  So, do not waste our energy trying to control everything so we can feel secure.  What God wants from us is to face it squarely, not run away from it, and to involve Him, not hiding behind Him.  

Perhaps you have heard the forecast made by medical experts that in all likelihood we will have to live with some forms of Corona virus for years to come.  No one can predict when this pandemic will end. If that is true, we must, then, face it squarely and involve God along the way.  We must be wise, but we must also be brave.  We need to be well-informed, but we should also let go what we cannot control.

The unpredictable will always be a part of life, as it has always been.  More than before, we should keep the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:25-34 in mind, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  So, go ahead and prepare for tomorrow but do not let tomorrow occupy today. Let God occupy our today.

Pastor Paul