Predictors versus Indicators

The past is not a very good predictor of the future. I see many Bible teachers using the what has happened to try and say what will happen. Historians also. They are rarely right.

One thing many Bible teachers do get right, from my viewpoint at least, is that things do happen for a reason. Nothing is random. Events get pushed along by some force, or forces really, because there are always several reasons that something has happened.

We can see 'indicators' and then we make choices based on those things. The wise know how to spot indicators that are not obvious to the untrained eye. "for we walk by faith, not by sight." - 2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV

Character is a good indicator. Our 'Faith' is based on God's demonstrated character. That applies to people also and loosely to groups but because leadership changes hands and circumstances change even that is not the best 'predictor'.

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." - 2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV

God tells us certain things about what he will do and how He thinks and that information is 'precious' because it gives us hope in a very uncertain world.

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