2577) A while ago, my mother gave me the baby book she kept as I grew up. When I brought it home, I looked through the pages and found a letter my kindergarten teacher wrote to my parents concerning me.

It was short, and yet I nodded my head at the insight this teacher had about me. It said, “When Susan can predict the surrounding circumstances, she can learn.” How this teacher had such insight amazes me.

Because this statement is true about me, I realize that a lot of my thoughts and actions result from my trying desperately to predict circumstances, but as adults, we know life is not predictable.

As I consider this drive within me, I can see that I desperately want God to be predictable. The good news is, this is true about him in many things. God will always forgive, always listen, always save, and always love, and yet, a lot about God is unpredictable.

1 Kings 18-19 provides a good example of this. God predictably sent down fire and burned up Elijah’s sacrifice in a show-down with the prophets of Baal.

And then, God unpredictably did not respond in this dramatic way when Elijah asked God to take his life in 1 Kings 19. Yes, God sent a powerful wind, earthquake, and fire, but God was not present within these as he was in the showdown. God’s presence was in a gentle whisper.

There are many things we can see about God within these two chapters, but one thing I see is that God was showing Elijah that he is predictably unpredictable.

My emotional part fears writing these words because I crave predictability, but perhaps God is showing Elijah and me that in God’s unpredictability, he is predictable.

He’s whispering to my heart; I will always show up in the best way in your life. This might be an earthquake, but it also might be a gentle whisper.

This brings a calm within my spirit. I can always predict that God will show up when and how I need him.