“Who could have predicted this?” It’s a question that flits through my mind at certain times–recently at my job. Part of my responsibilities include teaching World Literature to college students, and I find myself reading and researching topics that were, quite literally, foreign to me up until a few years ago. I have read sections of a book on an obscure Russian poet so that I could have background information for a class lecture. I have spent a few hours watching recordings of Japanese kabuki plays so that I could select a scene that would go with class reading. I have scoured the internet looking for English versions of interviews with the international authors I’m using, so that I can get a better feel of the voice behind the work. It’s all pretty nerdy stuff, but I also chuckle because there’s no way that twenty-year-old me could have guessed that I would have a working knowledge of some French, Nigerian, and Egyptian pieces.
It’s not just my career, though, that has presented me with some unexpected twists. My husband has had a number of health challenges for several years now, and we couldn’t have foreseen any of it. He was always active and enjoyed working out and had been healthy for the first forty years of his life. One summer about nine years ago changed that. The years since have often presented us with moments when we looked at each other and said, “Didn’t see that coming!” This journey has provided us with lots of moments to look to God, the only One who could see all of it coming. It is strangely comforting to know that he was aware and in control of all of it. None of it took him by surprise. This inevitably leads to questions and frustrations, though, as well because not every situation we have encountered has been welcomed or has fit in the “positive” category.
The great cloud of witnesses stretching from the Old Testament to the New could tell similar tales. Whether we are talking about Abraham’s sudden move to a destination unknown, Paul’s blinding encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, the call on Hosea to marry a prostitute, or the angel’s visit to Mary to announce her role in the Messiah’s coming. Each of these fork-in-the-road moments brought unexpected joys and heartaches. Abraham acquired great wealth along the way, but he also experienced intrigue and high-stakes drama in the court of Pharaoh (much of that stress due to bad choices on his part). Paul knew unimaginable joy in serving the Risen Lord, while he also experienced intense physical persecution and regular betrayal from his own kinsmen. Hosea walked through the specific heartbreak that comes with adultery at the same time he welcomed his own children into the world and knew the joy of fatherhood. And Mary carried the greatest gift all while she experienced the accusations of a community that was sure it had found out her sins.
It’s not just that I’m bad at predicting future events, it’s that I also can’t see the future’s ripple effects either. I couldn’t foresee my World Literature classes and the work it would involve, but neither could I see that I would fall in love with a whole new genre of literature. My husband and I couldn’t have predicted the way his health would fail him. We also couldn’t have predicted the way that we would see God work in the middle of it, revealing to us new facets of his character and his care in dark days. Those faithful men and women in Scripture were just as limited as I am, yet Hebrews 11 says that the heroes of the faith could see one thing and it was what focused their lives: the promises and the Promise Keeper. They knew that what God promised them would come true–even if it wasn’t in their own lifetimes–because he was faithful. This may not seem like much at times, but it is enough; in fact, it is everything. God’s present and future goodness will always have the last and best word in our lives.
Jessica Scheuermann
Jessica is a part of our Christ’s Church family and serves as Academic Resource Commons Director & English Professor at our Impact ministry partner, Ozark Christian College.
Jessica is pictured here with her husband, Ryan, and son, Josh.
