Trusting God in an Uncertain World

Trusting God in an uncertain world.

What word stands out? Uncertain? Trusting? As I was considering what to write, I began to focus on the uncertainty. But I’ve decided to change my tack. Uncertainty in this world is a certainty, isn’t it? Just by its very nature, there will always be uncertainty. The world is tainted, broken, and needs help. It is not where any certainty really lies, other than the experience of uncertainty.

So instead I chose the word, God.

Would you feel differently if I titled article like this?

Trusting an all-powerful, loving, sovereign, gracious, and perfect God in an uncertain world.

Does that change your perspective?

A friend of mine was telling me about her harrowing experience recently on a boat in very rough water. It was terrible and she actually feared for her life.

Calm water is not a certainty. If we depend on the world, it is like a boat in water. On the calm days, it seems just fine. But on the days when the waves get big and the storms come, the boat might capsize. The boat is at the whim of the waves. However, if instead, you choose to stand on the lighthouse, the waves and storms will still come but the lighthouse will not waver. You’ll still get wet and maybe knocked around a little, but the lighthouse won’t. It is not going anywhere. The waves and water make a big spectacle but the lighthouse stays the same and does not move. So it’s obviously best to plant your feet on the lighthouse and avoid the boat.

Where are your feet planted in the midst of the storms in your life?

I’ve been around a lot of people in the midst of storms. They suffer. Others suffer. And lots of questions come to the surface? “Why?” “How could God allow this to happen?” “How can this possibly be part of God’s plan?” “Doesn’t He care?” “Where is He?” . . . and many more. In fact, almost all of the questions I’ve heard, I’ve heard before. Most of them can be found in the book of Psalms.

Here is a list of a few of the storms I’ve been seeing: cancer, divorce, unemployment, abuse, addictions, anger, death, dying, aging parent(s), financial insecurity, job stress, parenting challenges, fear of . . . , illness, physical pain, broken relationships, etc.

These do lead to difficult experiences with uncertainty being a big one. These feelings are real and many are unavoidable. They cause pain on a variety of different levels. They lead to fear and anxiety. They affect our lives. And often in the midst of these difficult emotions, they turn our attention on God. “What is He doing?” “If He’s God, why isn’t He doing something?” And we move toward blaming God.

I believe these questions and our tendency to blame God lead to a more important question, and one that’s critical to walking through the uncertain times we face in this world.

Who is God?

Is He schizophrenic, lazy, apathetic, calloused, selfish, cruel, unaware, unjust, lacking compassion, and love-less?

If so, then it’s no wonder we have to go it alone. It’s no wonder He causes bad things to happen to us, so He can see us suffer. He doesn’t care.

Is that who He is? If so, then we may not like it or Him, but at least we can understand why we’re experiencing such difficulty.

But yet, that’s not right. That is not what the Bible says about God. The Bible says He is loving, compassionate, merciful, forgiving, just, all-knowing, all-powerful, always present, gracious, holy, righteous, self-less, grieves over our pain, completely aware of all that we experience.

If that’s who He is, it’s no wonder we wonder. If this is true, why doesn’t He take away my pain? Why doesn’t He change the circumstances to stop the suffering? Why is He silent? What doesn’t He act? Why doesn’t God act like how I think God should act?

If He’s God like I’ve just described, don’t you think He knows what He’s doing (or not doing)? Don’t you think He will act in the right way at the right time, even though it may be a different plan than you want? Remember, you and I are finite, broken, imperfect, and definitely not all-knowing creatures.

It ultimately is a matter of trust, isn’t it? If you want certainty and understanding when it comes to the difficulties of this world, you will be sadly and continually disappointed. We do not exist to understand or to receive guarantees about what we will or will not experience. It doesn’t work that way as a broken person living in a broken world.

God says, “Trust me.” And time after time, throughout the OT and NT, and throughout my life and yours, He proves Himself trustworthy every single time. You can’t beat his track record.

And even though we may believe this is true, we still have this unhealthy tendency to go it alone – to try and handle it ourselves. The following is not found in the Bible, but at times is how we live and why we feel like a helpless person in a boat fearing for our very lives.

“Trust in yourself with all your heart. Lean only on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge yourself, and you will make your paths straight.”

How is that working for you?

Instead, trust God. Don’t go it alone. You can’t handle it yourself. If God is God, it’s not His fault; it can’t be. But He’s there. God Himself is there. Trust Him.