When your future is uncertain
It is an understatement if I say we live in uncertain times. We started the new year with the tragic news of fires in Australia which was apocalyptic. Then there was this tension between Iran and US and there were rumours of 3rd world war. Now, hundreds of people have died in this deadly corona virus attack and everyone is panicking. Everywhere we turn the newspaper and watch the news, there is doom and gloom and people are worried.
Uncertainty is the major cause of FEAR and worry. Wherever there is uncertainty there is fear. For example, death is man’s greatest enemy because we don’t know when we die, we don’t know what exactly will happen after death, we don’t know how our loved ones will suffer after our death, death is uncertain and that is why we fear. Sometimes when we get struck in a long traffic jam and we don’t know how long will it take to clear, we begin to fear. This is because our brain is wired that way. Our brain doesn’t like uncertainty.
David went through a lot of uncertain times. Once he said to Jonathan his friend “There is only a step between me and death”. He he was about to face death anytime because a mad king called Saul chased him to kill him all the time.
Once he escaped to a cave called Adullam in fear of Saul and the bible says,
“And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay[b] with you, till I know what God will do for me.”
The reason why God created a brain that loves certainty is because the only certainty in the whole universe is God and so we as his created beings will put our trust in Him.
Isaiah 46:10 says, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”
God knows the end from the beginning. God knows what is still to come. God’s purpose will stand and God’s plan cannot be thwarted. That is why the bible says,
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
But man is crafting ways everyday to find that certainty in everything else except God. We run after people, fortune tellers, science, pleasure, drugs, alcohol, money, fame and so on. We want to find that certainty somehow.
Corrie Ten Boom and her family faced an unknown future as they were arrested for hiding Jews and sent to Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Corrie’s father and sister tragically died in the prison. She said,
“Never Be Afraid To Trust An Unknown Future To A Known God.”
This is why David said “Take care of my parents until I know what God will do for me” because God knows everything including your future. In Psalms 139 David wrote “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Once Paul in the bible was heading to Rome along with other prisoners. There was a storm and the ship was about to break into pieces. The people in the ship were terrified and they lost all hope of reaching the shore alive. There was no sun for nearly 14 days and Luke records in Acts 27,“When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.”
This shows the uncertainty as they lost hope not knowing what is about to happen. They were not sure whether they will reach alive. It was at this time Paul told all the prisoners “But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.”
After several days of darkness and storm, the ship finally broke into pieces but thankfully they were not too far from shore. So all the people somehow managed to swim and reached the shore safely and not one of them died. Some people held onto planks and safely reached the shore. The bible says, “The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.”
I imagined Paul holding on to a broken piece of a ship in that dark and cold night saying, “I am here in this dark and cold sea and I don’t know what is going to happen, the future is uncertain, but I hold onto this PLANK, one sure thing in this world, it is the word of God that he gave me. I have faith in God it will happen just as he told me.”
You life could be a shipwreck and your ship is broken to pieces and you have no hope of future. All that you need is to find that plank and that plank is Jesus, God’s word! You need to hold on to that plank, tightly, firmly and say “I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me”.
