For modern folks it can be challenging to believe in a God who is all powerful, all loving, all present and all knowing. It seems to conflict with our scientific world view. It can be challenging to believe in a God who is not only the Creator, but also the author of all that is, who continues to influence things that happen.

How can we pray and ask God to help in certain situations, when we, at the same time, know and actually depend on the unchanging reliability of the laws of nature?

We learn in school that our universe and with it our planet and all life on Earth are controlled by those laws of physics and nature. For everything that happens there is a cause, every cause has very specific effects.

If we accept this as an axiom – and in general we do – there seems to be no space for a God, since the consequence is that everything is ordered already by those laws and thus predestined by the universe and could, with enough computing power, be predicted.

Astronomers can produce models about planet and star movement for hundreds of years with very small margins of error and can in turn project the night sky of the time of Christ’s birth more than 2,000 years ago or future constellations in 2,000 years from now in a planetarium. Scientist can predict reactions and events in controlled lab environments very exact as well.

When it comes to mid-size systems it gets harder, as there are so many influences that can change the outcome. Weather for example is a little bit more difficult to predict than planet constellations.

While meteorologists can use data to predict the weather for tomorrow and a few more days relatively exact, there is still some space for error, though they got much better over the last decades. There are just too many circumstances that can tip the scale.

However, certain chemicals will react in certain ways, Newton’s Law of Motion, gravity, and thermodynamics will act the same way again and again. The engine in your car, the mixer in the kitchen, and the airplane that takes us to Miami work the same way with the right mechanical care, and we depend on it.

There is one factor though, that is almost impossible to put into the equation when one wants to calculate future events: human behaviour and its underlying thoughts and emotions.

Our memory, experiences, training, pain tolerance, empathy, education, upbringing, language, nutrition, and culture have influences on our thoughts, emotions and behaviours, and the list goes on (think of mind-altering substances like medication, alcohol, and drugs).

The Bible tries to explain this with the image of a tree with forbidden fruit that early humans dared to try. Knowing what is good and evil, right and wrong, gives choice and is the foundation of free will.

But back to modern times: sure in psychology we can detect patterns of behaviour, and explain the connection of thoughts and emotions, however, there is still a huge spectrum of possible reactions and outcomes.

For that reason the human factor is almost impossible to calculate and it becomes not only the main cause of accidents, tragedies and audacity, it is also the cause of kindness, healing, love, empathy, understanding, comfort, strength, fairness and so on.

God uses mainly us when he wants to interfere with the events on Earth. Some people hope for huge physical miracles, signs in the sky (wouldn’t it be nice if God wrote the lottery numbers in the clouds for you to read?), or that God may overwrite physics when we enter the corner too fast, or overtake with upcoming traffic.

Most likely God won’t do that by overwriting physics. He put those laws in place because he is a God of order. The first thing he did in Creation was turn on the light to sort the chaos. In his commandments He told us what to do and what not. There is “law and order” in God’s world.

Even in the Bible there are only very few miracles that are hard to explain from a scientific point of view. Most miracles are rather “wonders”, because they happened unexpectedly, nor impossibly.

True miracles are miracles because they happen, not how they happen. Most miracles we don’t even recognise as such any more. God uses humans to perform most of them.

The healing hands of a doctor, the rescue from the house fire through the courageous fire brigade, the happy landing of an airplane on the Hudson River thanks to Captain Sully being at the controls, the mercy of a judge, the forgiveness of a victim.

When people become part of God’s plan, it is the Holy Spirit working in them. In John 14:13-17 (NIV) we read: “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you for ever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

Anything we ask in Christ’s name the Father will make possible in some way. He might give you the right words when it really matters, warn you of danger with a gut feeling, empower you to be the best version of yourself.

The Good News is, His Spirit works when and where it wants. It does not depend on us to be worthy of it, we don’t have to be super Christians or moral examples. His Spirit wants to move us.

We might not always pay attention to it, though. We might use our own agency to even overwrite His will. After all we are very stubborn creatures, even the best of us.

Still, it is amazing how we sometimes can look back in life and can find good coming out of even bad situations. Romans 8:28 states (NIV):  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Hurricanes will continue to happen because of the laws of nature, the winds will cause power outages and may blow off the roof. Volcanoes will erupt when the pressure in the Earth builds up, and earthquakes will shake certain places near the tectonic plates.

The miracles will happen, when people help, when those who have the means, donate, those who have the skill, come to the rescue and recovery, those who have love and empathy, comfort those in need.

Tomorrow is Pentecost Sunday. It is one of the highest Christian holidays, the “birthday of the Church”.

God gave his Holy Spirit as a gift to the apostles. With this gift they overcame language barriers (Acts 2:4 NRSV: “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”), changed hearts, converted sceptics, taught love and comforted the mourning.

The Spirit caused and still causes community between all kind of people. Paul writes in Galatians 3:28 (NRSV): “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

In the Church, people of all ages, intellect, skin tone, body size, hair style, education, culture, gender, and ability come together. We sure need this kind of Spirit, a Spirit that inspires us to work toward peace, freedom and justice for all.

We need this Spirit that can cause good even when the enemy meant evil, as Joseph, who had been sold by his own brothers into slavery and had to endure lots of pains and suffering could comfort his brothers decades later when he was able to provide food during a seven-year famine being the chancellor of Egypt.

In Genesis 50:20 (ESV) he tells them: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

• Karsten Decker was the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Bermuda from 2010 to 2017, and after returning from Germany is now the temporary pulpit supply at Centenary United Methodist Church in Smith’s