Uncertainty. A word that we rarely tie to Faith. A word that ensures that we swallow that lump in our throat, and admit that we do not know the way forward. A word that conjures up images of standing on a precipice, unable to see the way forward, but also knowing that the chapter closing in behind us is forever changing the pathway forward.
We can be, at various points in our life, uncertain of major decisions, like accepting a certain job, buying a certain house, moving to a certain place. And while we like to think of each of these things as “certain”, and hope that they are “sure things”, we seldom get the sense that they truly are. Sometimes it feels like God's will for us is multiple choice.
Consider, for instance, our choices on who we determine to spend our lives with. We say things like, “I’ve found my soul mate”, or “we’re best friends”. But we rarely know everything that lies within them; what they think... about “everything”, and at best, we are hopeful that we are “on the same page” about choices. Even the best of friends and soul mates, have times when understanding each other, or having mastered that, is a falsehood. And we can certainly never know every thought they have, every detail of their life, even the choices they wish they had made, or dreams that died because of the life choice to be together and move forward in relationship.
How many times have we seen a couple who we thought were great together, fall apart or not make it? We are so surprised. Maybe they are too. Or dreams that die because of illness or injury, and the couple relinquishes their dreams for the higher calling of “for better or worse, in sickness and in health”?
In our own lives, we try to be strong and confident in our decisions, sure about our choices. Only to have a certain wind blow and change the nature of our confidence and surety. A job loses its luster. The house that was a dream home, takes more work to make it so. Relationships that should be easy, are harder than we thought they would be to keep and maintain.
We struggle most of our lives with things that are constantly changing. Our world is in flux, and as much as we resist it, we are in flux with it. Just as being on a ship at sea, we are no more in control of our lives than we are the size of the waves. The earth still turns, the sun is still there behind the storm clouds, but nothing is truly certain. At least not down here.
For those of us with Faith, we use slogans such as “Let go, and let God”, and “He won’t put any more on you than you can bear”. And though these sentiments sound great, the doing and believing them are often harder than we imagined they would be. The problem may be that we consider the uncertainties of life as something strange, as if suffering and the shifting sands of time, relationships, and control of our choices have and always should be “certain”. And we really want things we can count on. People, careers, our homes and health. But the “strangeness” of all that is in fluctuation, is actually normal, even though we want to believe it is not. Have we believed in a Christ who is supposed to make everything better? If everything always remained the same, would we not have our own paradise here below, without Him?
Perhaps this is why we struggle so. We want things to be under our control; our lives, homes, and careers to never change. For cancer to never come, for downsizing at work to never take place, for our kids to grow up happy and healthy— and for them to marry their soul mate and have the white picket fence and perfect house, life, and family. But the truth is, none of this is reality, and more often than not, these dreams do not come perfectly true. Our expectations clash with the reality that we live in a sinful and fallen world; where time does not stop for us so that we can correct the things that “shouldn’t happen to us”, or “shouldn’t be happening to us”.
Our problem is that it is not normal to “count it all joy”, or come into agreement that “Thy will be done”, is truly best for us. Possibly, because these two exhortations in Scripture, involve the “S” word—Submission. Over and over again, the Word of God gives us stories of those who would or would not submit to God. With the whole Bible being summed up as a book of “Trust Me—Your Father, God”, you would think we would take more time to consider that. And maybe that is the point for our most uncertain seasons. That when we do not know the way forward, when the path in front of us is as clear as mud, He still knows the way. Though He allows us to make choices, and maybe many times with uncertainty, He gives us the freedom to make them. He will give us wisdom for the way forward, when we ask Him for it. No, we may not hear an audible voice telling us the right choice to make, but within His parameters, we are free to make the wisest and best choices possible.
As I sense these times in my own life, I look into His Word and know that many of His people there went through the same things we do. They left homelands for a place He would show them. They were done dirty by family and friends, in order to rescue these same “frenemies” at a later time. They were asked to Trust Him, not only in uncertain and extremely difficult times, but especially when Trusting Him made no sense at all. These were real people who had faith and doubt, times of prosperity and famine. Fiery furnaces, Lion’s dens, an Egypt to be rescued from and a Cross that there would be no rescue from—in all of these things they were very familiar with the uncertainty of life. Their faith was the victory, uncertainty was normal, God was their Strength and their Song, and He should be ours as well……
We can be, at various points in our life, uncertain of major decisions, like accepting a certain job, buying a certain house, moving to a certain place. And while we like to think of each of these things as “certain”, and hope that they are “sure things”, we seldom get the sense that they truly are. Sometimes it feels like God's will for us is multiple choice.
Consider, for instance, our choices on who we determine to spend our lives with. We say things like, “I’ve found my soul mate”, or “we’re best friends”. But we rarely know everything that lies within them; what they think... about “everything”, and at best, we are hopeful that we are “on the same page” about choices. Even the best of friends and soul mates, have times when understanding each other, or having mastered that, is a falsehood. And we can certainly never know every thought they have, every detail of their life, even the choices they wish they had made, or dreams that died because of the life choice to be together and move forward in relationship.
How many times have we seen a couple who we thought were great together, fall apart or not make it? We are so surprised. Maybe they are too. Or dreams that die because of illness or injury, and the couple relinquishes their dreams for the higher calling of “for better or worse, in sickness and in health”?
In our own lives, we try to be strong and confident in our decisions, sure about our choices. Only to have a certain wind blow and change the nature of our confidence and surety. A job loses its luster. The house that was a dream home, takes more work to make it so. Relationships that should be easy, are harder than we thought they would be to keep and maintain.
We struggle most of our lives with things that are constantly changing. Our world is in flux, and as much as we resist it, we are in flux with it. Just as being on a ship at sea, we are no more in control of our lives than we are the size of the waves. The earth still turns, the sun is still there behind the storm clouds, but nothing is truly certain. At least not down here.
For those of us with Faith, we use slogans such as “Let go, and let God”, and “He won’t put any more on you than you can bear”. And though these sentiments sound great, the doing and believing them are often harder than we imagined they would be. The problem may be that we consider the uncertainties of life as something strange, as if suffering and the shifting sands of time, relationships, and control of our choices have and always should be “certain”. And we really want things we can count on. People, careers, our homes and health. But the “strangeness” of all that is in fluctuation, is actually normal, even though we want to believe it is not. Have we believed in a Christ who is supposed to make everything better? If everything always remained the same, would we not have our own paradise here below, without Him?
Perhaps this is why we struggle so. We want things to be under our control; our lives, homes, and careers to never change. For cancer to never come, for downsizing at work to never take place, for our kids to grow up happy and healthy— and for them to marry their soul mate and have the white picket fence and perfect house, life, and family. But the truth is, none of this is reality, and more often than not, these dreams do not come perfectly true. Our expectations clash with the reality that we live in a sinful and fallen world; where time does not stop for us so that we can correct the things that “shouldn’t happen to us”, or “shouldn’t be happening to us”.
Our problem is that it is not normal to “count it all joy”, or come into agreement that “Thy will be done”, is truly best for us. Possibly, because these two exhortations in Scripture, involve the “S” word—Submission. Over and over again, the Word of God gives us stories of those who would or would not submit to God. With the whole Bible being summed up as a book of “Trust Me—Your Father, God”, you would think we would take more time to consider that. And maybe that is the point for our most uncertain seasons. That when we do not know the way forward, when the path in front of us is as clear as mud, He still knows the way. Though He allows us to make choices, and maybe many times with uncertainty, He gives us the freedom to make them. He will give us wisdom for the way forward, when we ask Him for it. No, we may not hear an audible voice telling us the right choice to make, but within His parameters, we are free to make the wisest and best choices possible.
As I sense these times in my own life, I look into His Word and know that many of His people there went through the same things we do. They left homelands for a place He would show them. They were done dirty by family and friends, in order to rescue these same “frenemies” at a later time. They were asked to Trust Him, not only in uncertain and extremely difficult times, but especially when Trusting Him made no sense at all. These were real people who had faith and doubt, times of prosperity and famine. Fiery furnaces, Lion’s dens, an Egypt to be rescued from and a Cross that there would be no rescue from—in all of these things they were very familiar with the uncertainty of life. Their faith was the victory, uncertainty was normal, God was their Strength and their Song, and He should be ours as well……
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