Predicting the Unpredictable

It took only 24 games to ruin 20 million 2023 March Madness men’s college basketball brackets. Even more shocking, after one game, the NCAA declared no more perfect brackets remained. After No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson University beat No. 1 seed Purdue, the word “perfect” fell from every single bracket. Brackets will always be unpredictable, but no one could have predicted the events of 2023.

Just like March Madness, our lives are unpredictable. We cannot perfectly predict the weather, people’s actions or events around us. In sports, we cannot predict the opposing team’s plays, our coach’s decisions, or our health and performance perfectly every time. In school, we cannot always predict the homework assignments, what is on a test or even school events. Our life is unpredictable, and by the end of the day, our day usually didn’t go as we predicted.

In a world that is constantly changing and unpredictable, fear and anxiety can rise. What does tomorrow hold? Where will I go to college? Will I ever find someone to marry? We can predict life, but most times, just like the brackets, our plans and predictions are shattered.

But there is good news. There is something that we can predict and be right about every single time. When we read scripture, we see that God’s promises are trustworthy and always come true. God gives us three things we can always count on: His love, His grace and His presence.

God tells us that we can always trust Him to love us, to show us grace, and to be with us, even when our life is over. There are no broken brackets of faith when we put our trust in God.