Key Scripture: Psalm 16:8
“I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”
There are times in life when the challenge is not necessarily delay, but uncertainty. You simply do not know what is going to happen next. You do not know how things will turn out. You do not know what the next chapter will look like.
Who will I marry? How many children will I have? Where will I live? What job will I do? What will happen when I retire? Will I have enough to take care of myself and my family? Sometimes even relationships that once appeared certain can suddenly change. Life presents us with many questions for which we do not immediately have answers.
We do not see the whole picture. We do not see the entire journey. And in the wisdom of God, that is how He has designed our walk with Him.
God knows the end from the beginning. He knows every day of our lives, but He does not show us everything at once. In His wisdom, God knows that not knowing everything at once is sometimes best for us. He does not usually show anyone the whole journey.
Why? Because the believer is called to walk by faith.
WALKING WHEN YOU CANNOT SEE
Hebrews 11:1 says:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
We have hopes. We have dreams. We have expectations and aspirations. But faith gives substance to what we hope for and gives us confidence concerning what we cannot yet see.
We may not see the whole journey, but faith allows us to walk with God through it.
Consider Abraham. Hebrews 11:8 tells us that when Abraham was called by God to go to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, “he went out, not knowing whither he went.”
God told Abraham to go, but He did not give him every detail. He did not tell him everything he would encounter along the way. He did not show him every difficulty, every turn or every challenge.
Abraham simply had to trust God.
This is how God often works with us. We want the entire map, but sometimes God gives us only the next instruction. We want to know how everything will work out, but God says, “Trust Me.”
Hebrews 11:6 reminds us:
“But without faith it is impossible to please him…”
We please God by trusting Him.
Think about a little child being thrown playfully into the air by a parent. At first, the child may be afraid. But eventually the child learns something: the person throwing me will also catch me.
The child learns to trust.
Sometimes life feels like that. We find ourselves in uncomfortable places where our feet do not seem to be touching the ground. We do not know exactly what is happening or what comes next. Yet we can trust that the God who holds us will not let us go.
And that trust delights Him.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says:
“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time…”
You may not understand everything God is doing from the beginning to the end, but you can trust that He is working.
GOD IS WORKING EVEN WHEN IT LOOKS WORSE
Sometimes God gives you a promise, but He does not show you the process.
He may tell you where you are going without telling you everything you will experience on the way there.
When God sent Moses to Pharaoh in Exodus 5, the instruction was clear: “Let my people go.” Yet after Moses confronted Pharaoh, things initially became more difficult for the Israelites. Pharaoh increased their burden.
Imagine how confusing that must have been. God had said deliverance was coming, yet circumstances appeared to become worse.
But God was still working.
David experienced something similar. God had Samuel anoint David as king. David then defeated Goliath, and you might assume everything would progress smoothly from there.
Instead, David spent years running from Saul and living in difficult circumstances before eventually occupying the throne God had promised him.
Where was God’s promise during those years?
It was still sure.
Where was God?
He was still there.
Therefore, when circumstances appear to contradict what God has said, do not immediately conclude that everything is getting worse. God may be working through circumstances you do not yet understand.
You cannot judge the conclusion of your story from the chapter you are currently reading.
ANCHOR YOURSELF IN THE CHARACTER OF GOD
Hebrews 6:17–19 teaches us that God demonstrated the unchanging nature of His purpose and confirmed it with an oath. It tells us that it is impossible for God to lie, and describes the hope before us as:
“an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast.”
This is how you remain unshaken in uncertain seasons: you trust God’s character.
You may not know the whole picture, but you know the One who sees the whole picture.
You know His love.
You know His faithfulness.
You know His power.
You know His character.
You know He cannot lie.
Therefore, anchor your soul in Him.
You must settle these things in your heart before trouble comes. You prepare for battle in times of peace. Stay in the Word until certain truths become settled convictions in you:
God is faithful. God cannot lie. God loves me. God is with me. God will not abandon me.
When these truths become established in your heart, uncertainty may surround you without controlling you.
WHEN YOU PASS THROUGH THE WATERS
Isaiah 43:1–2 says:
“Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned…”
Notice that God does not say you will never encounter water.
He does not say you will never encounter rivers.
He does not say you will never encounter fire.
He says, “I will be with thee.”
Nobody wants to pass through the waters. Nobody asks to walk through fire. We pray to enjoy God’s best and to live peaceful lives. But if difficulty comes, there is something that remains certain: it will not consume you because God is with you.
Psalm 23 carries the same assurance. The Lord leads us beside still waters, but David also says:
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me…”
The confidence of the believer is not that life will always be predictable. Our confidence is that God’s presence is constant.
I may not know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow.
And because I know who holds tomorrow, I can face tomorrow.
Life may be uncertain, but God is certain.
FEED FAITH, NOT FEAR
So what do you do when things are uncertain?
Stay in the Word.
In uncertain seasons there can be two competing forces within your heart: fear and faith. What you continually feed will become stronger.
Romans 10:17 says:
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Faith comes by hearing. But fear can also grow through what we continually hear and consume.
That means we must guard what enters our hearts.
You cannot consume every piece of bad news. You cannot allow every social-media post, frightening story, negative report or fearful opinion to continually occupy your mind and then wonder why your heart is troubled.
Proverbs tells us to guard our hearts with all diligence because out of them flow the issues of life.
Feed yourself the Word.
Jesus said His words are spirit and life. When you continually interact with God’s Word, you are introducing life into your thinking and your circumstances.
Isaiah 26:3 says:
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
There is a choice before us. We can continually look at everything happening around us, or we can fix our attention upon Christ.
Looking unto Christ brings peace.
It brings comfort.
It brings consolation.
It brings strength.
Feed on God’s promises. Do not feed on your fears.
SCRIPTURE PREPARES US FOR LIFE
Why is staying in Scripture so important?
Think about military training. Soldiers train under different conditions. They train in the morning and at night. They train in difficult weather. They practise in different environments so that when real situations arise, they are not encountering everything for the first time.
Scripture does something similar for the believer.
Second Timothy 3:16–17 says:
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
God uses Scripture to teach us, correct us, train us and equip us.
The Bible shows us people who experienced the same kinds of things human beings still experience today. It shows us people who waited. People who were persecuted. People who were tempted. People who succeeded. People who failed. People who trusted God and people who made mistakes.
Their experiences were recorded so that we can learn.
Abraham teaches us about waiting and faith.
Joseph teaches us about God’s purposes through adversity.
David teaches us how to trust God while being pursued by enemies and while waiting for a promise.
Solomon teaches us both the power of wisdom and the consequences of departing from God’s ways.
We do not have to personally make every mistake in order to learn from it. We can learn from those who walked before us.
Stay with Scripture. Let it train you.
REMEMBER GOD’S PAST FAITHFULNESS
When the future is uncertain, remember what God has already done.
Has He helped you before?
Then remember it.
Has He made a way before?
Remember it.
Has He provided before?
Remember it.
Has He carried you through something you once thought you could never survive?
Remember it.
God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
One of our problems is that we easily forget. Psalm 103 says:
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”
Why does Scripture tell us not to forget? Because human beings forget very easily.
We pray desperately about something. God answers us. Then after a while, we begin talking as though everything happened by our own strength.
No. Remember God.
Give Him the glory.
David understood this when he faced Goliath. He remembered the lion and the bear. The God who had delivered him before would deliver him again.
That is the mindset of faith.
What God has done for you in the past becomes evidence for trusting Him in your next season.
Do not forget His faithfulness. Every time God brings you through something, remember it, thank Him for it and allow that testimony to become a platform from which you trust Him again.
His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.
WHEN YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO, PRAY
Finally, what do we do when life is uncertain?
We pray.
Philippians 4:6–7 says:
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Do not allow anxiety to dominate your heart. Do not spend all your time staring at the problem.
Bring it to God.
The mechanism Scripture gives us for dealing with uncertainty is prayer.
And sometimes prayer requires persistence.
Think about Elijah. James tells us that Elijah was a man subject to passions like us, yet he prayed earnestly. In 1 Kings 18, after declaring that rain would come, Elijah bowed himself to the ground and prayed.
He sent his servant to look.
Nothing.
He prayed again.
Still nothing.
He continued praying until eventually the servant reported seeing a small cloud rising from the sea like a man’s hand.
Then Elijah knew the rain was coming.
There are situations where we pray once and see an immediate result. There are other situations where we continue in prayer and supplication.
We stay there.
We pray.
We continue to make power available through prayer.
James 5:16 says:
“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
And as we pray, something happens inside us too.
The peace of God begins to guard our hearts.
You can enter prayer burdened, worried and uncertain, but as you remain before God, there comes a place where peace settles upon your heart. The circumstances may not have visibly changed yet, but something has changed within you.
You know that the matter is in God’s hands.
You know He has heard you.
You know He is working.
You know it is settled.
That is the peace that passes understanding.
PRAY UNTIL PEACE REPLACES FEAR
Prayer is one of the greatest gifts God has given the believer.
Pray, brothers and sisters.
Sometimes prayer comes easily. At other times, prayer feels difficult. On those days, simply begin by saying, “Lord, help me to pray. Holy Spirit, help me.”
God is not standing over you as a taskmaster. He loves you. He understands your weakness.
Begin where you are.
As you continue praying, your spirit begins to rise. Fear begins to lose its grip. Your perspective changes. You remember that spiritually you are seated with Christ in heavenly places, far above principalities and powers.
You rise above what was overwhelming you.
You come to the place where striving ceases.
You come to the place where fear is stilled.
You come to the place where all you can see is God.
And suddenly you know: God has this.
That is why Philippians tells us:
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
When we do not know what is happening, we pray.
When we do not know what tomorrow holds, we pray.
When we cannot see the way forward, we pray.
When circumstances appear contradictory, we pray.
And as we pray, God speaks, strengthens us and fills our hearts with His peace.
LIFE MAY BE UNCERTAIN, BUT GOD IS CERTAIN
There will be moments when you do not understand what God is doing. There may be seasons when you cannot see how you will move from where you are to where God has promised.
But God knows.
God has a plan.
Anchor yourself in Him.
Stay in His Word.
Feed your faith instead of your fear.
Remember His past faithfulness.
And pray.
Second Corinthians 4:8–9 says:
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”
You may be pressed, but you will not be crushed.
You may be perplexed, but you will not despair.
You may be knocked down, but you will not be destroyed.
Why?
Because the excellency of the power is of God and not of us.
God is with you.
He will walk with you through every fire, every storm, every valley and every uncertain season.
You do not have to know everything about tomorrow. You only need to know the One who already stands in tomorrow.
Life may be uncertain, but God is certain.
Because He lives, we can face tomorrow.
It is well with you.
And whatever season of uncertainty you are walking through today, may the Lord reveal Himself to you afresh. May He remind you of His faithfulness. May He strengthen you to walk through every difficult place. May He make a way of escape and bring you out with joy, testimony and rejoicing.
And even before the situation changes, may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.
Amen.
