Anticipated Prediction

“But you do not know what will happen tomorrow! Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away. So you should say, “If the Lord wants, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:14-15

This winter weather has been full of surprises, but it has also been typical winter weather for Ohio. You make plans and anticipate that the forecast is true, but then you cancel plans because of the ice storm. Then you do not make plans because of the prediction of a storm and nothing happens. You feel you just wasted your time and could have enjoyed a great adventure. You make plans to stay inside and then the sun comes out and the blue sky is clear and inviting. You make plans to take a walk and then the snowstorm emerges.

We try to anticipate the weather, and meteorologists make predictions. A prediction is a forecast for the future. It is an educated guess basically. We live in the Midwest where the winter can contain all four seasons in a single day. It can be harsh and cold for weeks or mild and sunny. It can change without warning or prediction. We even try to fool ourselves with a ground hog and the prediction of an early Spring. No matter what, Spring only comes when it is good and ready to come. We hope and dream, but reality is, it will come whenever the weather decides to change and commit to staying Spring. We anticipate Spring in the cold of winter.

Anticipation. To look forward to, to expect. Some of you anticipate life will be good and what you hope for will happen. Keep up the positive attitude and outlook. Proud of you. While others of you anticipate doom and gloom. If something could go wrong, you know it will go wrong for you. You predict disaster, heartache, and falling apart if it is connected to you. Your motto has been – “If something can go wrong, it will.” I get it. Life seems to go from bad to worse for you, and it feels like a dark cloud follows you around.

Life did not turn out like you expected, anticipated nor predicted. You had hopes and dreams and life went in a different direction. We want to make choices for our lives, and we do have some choices. Not all of our choices are healthy and good because we make mistakes and are easily swayed by other people and the views of society. We do have a choice in our attitude toward life. We live in a fallen and broken world and bad stuff happens to good people. We try to understand and make sense out of something that makes no sense at all.

So, you may feel that life is not what you predicted it to be at this stage of life. Or it may be better than expected. Either way, life is what is in front of you, and you get the choice to find peace and contentment or fight against it all the way. Your choice. Let’s anticipate something that is true no matter who you are or what life has given you. God is with you. You are not alone. God created you to be who you are and there is a reason for you being you. Only you can do what you were created to do.

God promises you this current moment and to be with you. God may not take you out of the current storm, but God will walk with you through it. This is the life you have. Nobody else can make it better for you. It is your choice. Let us look forward to walking with Jesus and finding moments of good. You need to look for the good. It may not be what you anticipate that will bring good. It is being open to new possibilities and adventures.

We may also anticipate how others will react to us. We worry and become anxious in this anticipation because we want to please others and make them happy. Sorry, that is not your responsibility. You may anticipate other people’s reactions and try to prepare how to respond to them, but this anticipation will only bring anxiety and fears. You cannot control another person’s response. Because of your history with a person, you may predict how they will respond. It is learning to accept a person for who they are and not absorbing their responses.

We tend to have a preconceived view of what life should be and how it should look. What if we let go of this idea, and trust that God has a different plan and way for us to view life. I can choose to be miserable because what I anticipated did not happen, or I can choose to enjoy the surprises of life and find good in the moments. Let’s choose to trust God in each moment of life.

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