The Pattern

Description

Sam’s wife was suddenly killed 5 years ago. He now suffers with crippling anxiety and blames God for his wife’s death. He discovers ‘the pattern,’ an injection that allows him to see three seconds into the future. At first it cures his anxiety and makes him successful at everything: women, sports, money. Addicted to the success, Sam increases his dosage from 10 seconds to 3 minutes. He begins to realise that although he’s lost his anxiety from knowing exactly what’s going to happen, he’s also losing his free will to choose anything else. He’s become a slave to the pattern of the world. One day he sees his own death, but he can’t change it. As he’s about to die, a woman he had not seen in the vision saves him. She reveals to him that the pattern can only predict the physical, it can’t predict the spiritual. Sam becomes irritated with her as she explains that God told her to save him. In the end Sam has a vision of the woman being killed. Will he try to save her by praying to a God he hates, or will he leave her to die as his wife did years ago.

Biblical Connection

The pattern is based on Numbers 22-24. A false prophet and diviner called Balaam uses supernatural sorcery to predict the future for money and control. He is hired by the king of Moab to curse God's people, and against Gods wishes, goes to meet this king. However, He is stopped by an angel who humbles Balaam by appearing to his donkey and not him. Balaam soon starts to realise that God is sovereign and no other power or predictions can change what He has blessed or cursed. God then speaks to Balaam by His Spirit which causes Balaam to surrender control, falling down with his eyes wide open, saying ‘I see Him.’ Sam represents Balaam and the woman (Grace) represents Gods messenger the angel. The story explores how we try to predict and control our lives in order to free ourselves from worry. We think that if we could know exactly what was going to happen in our lives, we would be free, but would that really be the case. Maybe instead of trying to play God by controlling everything in our lives, we should surrender our lives to the one who really is in control, and stop worrying.