Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if He doesn’t, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” -Daniel 3:16-18
I’ve learned a lot about God since coming to CGA. I’ve learned about His covenants with man, His Word written in scripture, and so much more. But perhaps the simplest, yet most transformational thing I’ve learned about God was taught on our first day of class:
“God’s character is predictable, but the way He does things is unpredictable.” -Deon V.
Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Malachi 3:6 says “I am the Lord, and I do not change.” God clearly states that He is the same and He does not change. Who He is, his character, is constant. And because his character is constant, it is predictable.
This is great news for us! It means that the things about God that we know to be true are constants that we can rely on. Nothing we do can ever mess it up. We can rest in knowing that no matter what, God is going to be loving, good, faithful, steadfast, etc!
This truth is so fundamental in our relationship with the Lord. But, we also have to be careful. As Christ-followers we can tend to use this truth to put God in a box. We expect that because we know God’s character is never changing, that we will be predict the way He will do everything. But when it comes to the way God does things, He is totally unpredictable!
Yup, I said it: God is unpredictable! Just look at all the examples in scripture: talking through a burning bush, splitting the red sea, or sending Jesus to be crucified. No one could have ever predicted the way God was going to show up in those situations. And to be honest, sometimes the way God does things just doesn’t make sense to us. But we need to ask the question, are we okay if we let God do it the way He wants to? Can we just accept that even though we know who He is, we don’t know what He is going to do?
I think Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego show us what it looks like to live out this understanding. They knew the character of God while still trusting that they didn’t actually know what He was going to do. They were even fearless in the face of death because of their trust in God’s character. They boldly declared “even if He doesn’t show up the way we expect Him to, we will still trust Him [His character].” That is powerful. That is how we are called to trust God.
In this season at CGA, the Lord has been constantly reminding me to put my trust in His character and not only in His answers. And I have been challenged to do this specifically in the process of fundraising.
Raising support is difficult, but it has been the best reminder that God’s character is predictable while the way He does things is unpredictable!
I get to rest in the character of God. He is good. He provides for His children. He loves me. I can trust Him and He is worthy of my full trust. Because God is who He says He is, I know that if He has called me to be here at CGA and go to Morocco for my capstone trip, He will provide!
But even if He doesn’t, He is still good, He still loves me, and He still provides for all my needs! And that is the beautiful truth that I get to rest in!
If you would like to support me and my leadership and discipleship training at CGA and my capstone mission trip to Morocco, I still need to raise $3,000 to get me to Morocco. Please prayerfully consider partnering with me as we follow Jesus together!
Thank you!
Carly
