By Doug Creamer
God Moves Unpredictably
When I moved to North Carolina back in the 1980’s, people told me about the March that it snowed three Wednesdays in a row. Any story about snow is a good story. I have heard that story more times than I can count. I did a little research, and that was back in 1960. Well, it might just be possible that we could have three snowy weekends in a row if some of the models are right. Two weeks ago we had snow and sleet. Last weekend we had snow again, and it is possible that we could see snow again this weekend. What stories will come of this?
I have to admit, last weekend’s snow was a surprise. I had been watching the models for over a week, trying to determine what I thought would happen. I send out storm alerts to some friends and followers, but I never sent anything out on that storm. A few friends pressed me, and I told them we could see between 0 and 6 inches. I guess I was right since we got three inches at my house.
Weather is so unpredictable, but I love the challenge and the excitement of following storms. I love following storms, severe weather, and hurricanes, but my favorite is snowstorms. I have been fascinated by weather since childhood. I love to watch it snow. It doesn’t happen that often, and most people agree it is beautiful to watch it come down. The trouble is that I like to see it pile up, too. Last Friday night it started to snow while I was getting our take-out dinner. I turned on the spotlights when I got home and I watched it snow all evening. It was one of the nicest evenings I can remember in a long time.
That storm was very unpredictable. Every model run churned out different results. One run I thought we would see heavy snow, then the next run we weren’t going to get any at all. I thought as we closed in on the storm we might find clarity. It never happened. Most forecasters were surprised by the amount we received. In their defense, what we received was a powder snow, and powder snow is very hard to predict.
We normally get snow, then sleet and freezing rain, finally ending as snow again. That’s another reason it is very hard to predict winter weather. I love following it, but mostly I just want to look out the windows and watch it snow.
Weather’s unpredictable nature reminds me about God’s unpredictability. I am not implying that He is undependable. We can count on God. But His ways and methods are very unpredictable. If you think you have figured out God, look out because He will surprise you. The Bible tells us that His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
People say that God will work the way He did before. That’s not always true. God is creative and can work in many wonderful different ways. Think of the many ways that Jesus healed people. Sometimes He spoke to them, other times He placed His hands on them, and still other times He spit on the ground and made mud to put on them. We are all different; God can approach each of us in different ways.
What I love most about walking with God is how He surprises me. Sometimes He comes for a visit late at night. Sometimes we are singing a song I have sung many times at church, but on this Sunday He shows up in a special way. Sometimes I open an email from a reader and God shows up in an unexpected way to bless me. Maybe this has happened to you…you pray for something and God provides an answer in an unexpected way.
We have to stop putting God in a box by saying, “He can only work in this way.” The Bible tells us of many different ways that God has worked in the past. We know that He can work in those ways again, but we can’t say that those are the only ways He will work. We have to expand our faith and believe that God can move and work in unexpected ways.
I want to encourage you to open your heart to God and allow Him to do something unexpected in your life. He wants to bless you. He wants to encourage you. He wants to strengthen your faith. He wants to give you good gifts. Pay attention to what is happening around you. God is at work in many unexpected ways to express His love for you.
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
