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Life is Unpredictable in a World Where Anything Is Possible

The scary reality of the world is that life is unpredictable. And this is because our world is constantly changing. Nothing ever remains the exact same unless you’re talking about gravity, wind, or any other natural force. But, in this post, I’ll be talking mainly about how your life can change rapidly and it is my goal to touch upon how one should face this ever-changing world.

Is Unpredictability Bad?

Unpredictability seems to have a negative connotation. I mean when someone says the word, “unpredictable,” the majority of people think of something negative such as unemployment, bad people, messy situations, and more.

And it indeed has become a worry to many people, today. This agitating fear in the hearts of people is apparent when people ask themselves questions such as, “How am I going to face the future?”, or, “What if something happens and my life is turned upside down?”

These statements are common questions which depict a sense of fear of the unpredictable. People often fear the unexpected, and this can be a genuine worry for many.

Proverbs 12:25 World English Bible (WEB)
25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down,
    but a kind word makes it glad.

Even the Bible talks about how people worried about what will become of them in the future. I modified the verse below in that I omitted some words from the beginning for the sake of emphasis. But I will quote this later in its full context.

Matthew 6:31 World English Bible (WEB) (Modified Verse)
31[…] saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’

But, why not think of unpredictability in the opposite sense? What if unpredictability could bring something good into your world?

Yes, life is unpredictable, but with that comes the possibility that things can exceed your expectations in a good sense. What if life is unpredictable in that your boss promotes you in your workplace, you find a new restaurant to eat at, or something else happens which is good.

And I believe Lord Jesus Christ reminds us of this in the Bible.

Why Life is Unpredictable

Before I get to what Lord Jesus Christ says about the matter, let me answer the question of why life is so unpredictable. It’s because God doesn’t give a guarantee that life will be predictable.

Instead, He tells us this.

Romans 8:28 King James Version (KJV)
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

So, God never promised you that all things will be predictable. And yes, that does mean tough things may come your way. You might face challenges that make you feel like yanking your hair out.

But, He does give us a guarantee of blessings. God tells us that whatever comes our way, predictable or unpredictable, will work as part of His plan to prosper you in any way possible (physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually, and more).

Now, let’s take a look at what Lord Jesus Christ said about how people should deal with unpredictability.

Matthew 6:31 World English Bible (WEB)
31 “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’

HE SAID TO NOT GET ANXIOUS ABOUT THE UNPREDICTABLE FUTURE! And do you know why?

Matthew 6:32 World English Bible (WEB)
32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

God knows you need clothes, food, a job, and all of that! He knows what you’re asking from Him, and He is not oblivious to your needs. You’ve got to trust Lord Jesus Christ and do your part. By doing your part, I mean to do what’s right, what’s wise, and what’s efficient.

If bad health surprises you, try your best to live healthily while asking God for His healing. Or if you’re struggling financially, try your best to earn more income in an honest way while asking God for a financial breakthrough. However, let us go more in-depth in the next post.

A Helping Hand in an Unpredictable World

Lord Jesus Christ’s instructions regarding worries of the unpredictable future are the following.

Matthew 6:33-34 World English Bible (WEB)
33 But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.

Seek God’s kingdom first and His righteousness. How do you seek God? Well, first, you’ve got to accept Him if you haven’t already. And the way to do that is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Jesus Christ, being God, came down to Earth in the form of a human being.

He died on the cross in your place so that all your sins and evil gets punished through Jesus Christ, and now you can live a life in His grace. I talk more about it in this post.

Philippians 2:5-8 World English Bible (WEB)
5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross.

Now, getting back to the topic of unpredictability, Lord Jesus instructs us to not be anxious concerning our challenges. He says to take life one day at a time, and He will provide you with all that you need.

Therefore, I urge you to not worry, just thank and praise Him that He will make sure you end up in a good place. And if you want some encouragement, just read the Bible. I’d recommend that you read chapters 37 to 50 of Genesis in the Bible. You don’t have to read it all at once, just try to finish it before next week and you’ll see how Joseph faced so many unpredictable situations, both good and bad, with God’s strength.

Philippians 4:6-7 New King James Version (NKJV)
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

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The Model Method To Deal With Stress

Method to deal with stress

We often wonder how wonderful it’d be if there weren’t such a thing as stress. I mean it’s bothersome, cumbersome, and painful. You might be stressing about paying the bills, dealing with your job, taking care of children, and more. The point is that there’s always something to stress about. And if one challenge is resolved, it seems that there’ll always arise a new challenge! Once again, if there’s any issue, God’s Word holds a solution for it. So, keep on reading to find out whether God thinks if there is a method to deal with stress.

Stress is a Deviation of Fear

Life is rife with stressful ordeals and situations. But, what is it in the grand scheme of things? What is the bigger picture when it comes to viewing stress and worry? Well, it means that the person who stresses, myself included, cannot trust what God holds in picture.

Stress is basically a way to express fear. A person starts feeling stress when something they dearly love or value is at risk or in jeopardy.

For King David, he stressed out when he couldn’t hide his affair with Bathsheba. He wanted to preserve his reputation and affair and so, he indirectly murdered her husband, which God really disapproved of. In fact, it led to him suffering a lot since his actions held many consequences.

2 Samuel 12:9 World English Bible (WEB)
9 Why have you despised Yahweh’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 

And King Saul stressed out when God did not want him as king anymore due to his constant disobedience. King Saul wanted to protect his privileges as King of Israel but since that was in jeopardy, he stressed to the point of seeking peace from a witch and that did not end so well.

The Biblical accounts of many historical figures show that people often feel stress and it happens in situations where it’s the person’s fault or when it’s not their fault. Either way, it never leads to anything good and is almost always a contributing factor to failure except in Jesus’ case. But, let’s see and learn from how God dealt with stress.

Remembering How God Dealt With Stress

Now, let’s go the scene of when Jesus Christ was awaiting His crucifixion. It was the night at the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus knew that Judas was leading the priests and leaders to him so that they may arrest Him and send Him to His grisly fate. Just picture it, He knows what He is going to face and He knows every single detail that is going to take place.

1 John 3:20 World English Bible (WEB)
20 because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

He knows how they’re going to make him wait in a cold room in the early morning; He knows how they’re going to literally skin Him alive with every lash of their ancient yet meticulous torturing devices, and He knows how they’re going to carve through his flesh and bones with enormous nails that would even send chills down the spine of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.

First and foremost, you must realize this was not something out of His control and if He wanted to, He could have stopped this ordeal immediately. When Peter tried to stop Jesus’ arrest, Jesus reminded Peter that He doesn’t need Peter to defend Him as He has so many angels at His command.

Matthew 26:53 World English Bible (WEB)
53 Or do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels?

Furthermore, the decision was hard for Jesus who is God in the flesh. He had to lay down His life and embrace a fate worse than death. And in that garden, Jesus prayed to Heavenly Father as a model for us.

The Method to Deal With Stress

Matthew 26:39 World English Bible (WEB)
39 He went forward a little, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire.”

Jesus did feel stress, He wanted to protect his life from unfathomable pain; He knew it was coming and since He knew the ordeal was going to happen, His fear was well-justified. To save the souls of the world, He’d have to suffer a lot.

And the Bible said that He stressed so much that even His sweat became blood which is an actual medical condition borne out of extreme stress according to modern medical science.

Luke 22:44 King James Version (KJV)
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Moreover, Jesus still looked at the grand scheme of things, He did something which most of us don’t do when we’re stressed out. He prioritized God’s will and subjected His fate to what God the Father wants which is the right method to deal with stress.

God Stressed Out So You Don’t Have To

Thus, His stress was beneficial for us so that we would not need to stress to accomplish our work as His blood went into the ground to satisfy the curse granted to Adam’s descendants when Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3:17 World English Bible (WEB)
17 To Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to your wife’s voice,
    and have eaten from the tree,
    about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’
    the ground is cursed for your sake.
You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life.

Of course, this is not split personality, but rather, it is something that Jesus being God in the flesh, wants us to know. He wants us to follow His example and He spoke to Himself as God the Father so we can learn. He has done this earlier and one example of how He does this is seen in the following Bible verse.

John 11:42 World English Bible (WEB)
42 I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude standing around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.”

The Method to Find Peace in a World of Stress

In conclusion, Jesus did fulfill His will and endure the crucifixion for our sakes. With such tremendous power at His grasp, He believed it was better to let hell destroy Him for our restoration.

If you are stressing out, remember that Jesus stressed out, too. And if you want peace, just follow His model, the method to deal with stress. Trust in God’s will, ask Him for the bigger picture and He’ll make things work out for your good. He always makes things work out for our good because He loves us, why else would He suffer so much for us?

Romans 12:2 World English Bible (WEB)
2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Renew your mind according to the Word of God. Let His love speak to you and trust Him.

Philippians 4:7 World English Bible (WEB)
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

Don’t try to understand the peace of God, but just trust God. You are now in the New Covenant with God and unlike the Old Testament, when you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, He promises to forgive you, save you, and to grant you His peace, so you only need to receive His peace.

Therefore, if you feel stressed out, follow Jesus’ method to deal with stress by asking God to make things work out according to His will, and He will deal with your stress through the peace of His Holy Spirit. He will eventually make all things in your life, whether good or bad, to work out for your good. So you’ll one day see your current stressful situation as a memory and as a testimony of God’s goodness.

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The King Who Overcame Anxiety!

There are many types of anxiety. This post will be tackling the topic of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Basically, GAD is a disorder that causes people to worry abnormally and frequently throughout their life.

Now, what does the Bible say about anxiety in general?

Matthew 6:27-30 World English Bible (WEB)
27 “Which of you by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan? 28 Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin, 29 yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you of little faith?

The general topic of this bible verse is anxiety. This is when Jesus tells the people that you should not worry about anything because God is in control.

He says that He will provide. If you are worried about anything, just lay it down at the feet of Jesus. Doesn’t Jesus say in verse 30, that if He put so much effort into the design of flowers, then how much more, will He care for you!

No Longer in Bondage

Romans 8:15 World English Bible (WEB)
15 For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Paul, influenced by the Holy Spirit, wrote this passage straight from Heaven so that you can truly understand the solution to General Anxiety Disorder. He says we have not received the spirit of bondage to fear. But, what is bondage to fear?

Bondage to fear is when someone is always scared of what’s happening next or what has already happened. It can be seen as constant anxiety, which perfectly matches GAD’s description. So, God tells us through this passage, that if you accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, He will put in you, His Spirit of adoption.

It means that as soon as you believe in Him, He considers you His own child. When you were young, your parents would tell you not to be worried. They would always take care of everything to the best of their ability. I mean, I’ve never seen a child worry about paying the bills or providing food on the table in a functional family.

In the same way, Holy Spirit tells you in this scripture that you have not received a spirit of bondage to fear, but the Spirit of adoption from God, meaning that He see you through the lens of love, as His dear, beloved child, just rely on Him.

God’s Primary Calling to You

Therefore, God calls you to believe in Him and to place your trust in Jesus Christ because He loves you; He wants to do something great in your life, He wants you to be set free from all anxiety as He calls the whole world to Him!

John 3:16 World English Bible (WEB)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Moreover, Jesus leaves you with His peace which is not dependant on your situation but on your relationship with Jesus.

John 14:27 World English Bible (WEB)
27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.

Before Jesus’ crucifixion, He made a promise that He would give us peace. So, accept His promise, He put His Spirit in you and there is nothing that should worry you if the Almighty God is on your side.

You may be saying, “But, Andre, Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a mental illness, it is beyond my control!”

Yet, my response remains the same because it’s supported by scripture, Jesus made that promise of peace for everyone; it is not supposed to be under your control, you just need to surrender it to Jesus. He did not say that His promise of peace is reserved only for healthy Christians, His promise is for everyone and anyone so as long as you decide to trust Him.

Philippians 4:7 World English Bible (WEB)
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

His peace transcends human comprehension; if you suffer from GAD, just ask God for that peace which He promised, GAD should have no place in your life.

You do not need to be anxious about the future, your situation or anything for that matter, but you should remind yourself that Jesus promised you peace. There may be challenges here and there but Jesus will turn your challenges into testimonies.

Therefore, accept His love and enjoy His perfect, wonderful peace.