Month: October 2014

Uncertainty

| Karen

Sometimes life hits us all at once, and we are overwhelmed by uncertainty.  I am currently in just such a season.  I have prayed, cried, complained, talked with/listened to godly mentors, read my Bible, written out my thoughts to better “organize” them.  I realized that there are actually 3 areas of uncertainty I’m facing right now… And I’m not quite sure what God is doing.

But a song has been going through my mind for the past several weeks, that I learned back in high school.  It’s a Babbie Mason song called “Trust His Heart.”  http://youtu.be/HgrJakTHr6s

The chorus says:

“God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don’t understand
When don’t see his plan
When you can’t trace his hand
Trust His Heart”

Today, in my Beth Moore Bible Study (Children of the Day), she cautioned us that sometimes when we go through hard times, we have a tendency to redefine God – to make sense of who God must be in the context of our struggles.  We think He’s an uninvolved God, who doesn’t really care, who stays at arm’s length and lets bad things happen to us without concern.  But this is not the true God found in Scripture, merely human attributes we have pasted onto an idea of God, a cheap substitute for the one true God.  We must return to the Bible in these times of uncertainty to remind us of exactly who God is, and how He relates to us.  Here are a few things that came to mind today and encouraged me:

  1. The Father (God) Himself loves me (John 16:27)
  2. God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23)
  3. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, He will guide me (John 10:11)
  4. He is with me even through the valleys (Psalm 23)
  5. He formed me in the womb (Psalm 139:13), has a good plan for me (Jeremiah 29:11), He knew every day before one of them came to pass (Psalm 139:16)
  6. He gave me His Holy Spirit to help me, and to remind me of these truths (John 14:26)
  7. He is preparing a place for me, and will return to take me with Him (John 14:2-3).
  8. Our present sufferings will not compare to future glory (Romans 8:18)
  9. Jesus is interceding for me (Romans 8:34, Hebrew 7:24-25)

10. Jesus is my Helper, and the lifter of my head (Psalm 3:3, Hebrews 13:6)

11. He pulls my feet out from the mire (Psalm 40:2)

12. He enables me to stand on the heights (Psalm 18:33)

13. He is my Rock foundation, so when the storms come, I will not fall (Matthew 7:24-27)

14. He gives wisdom and discernment (Proverbs 2:6)

15. He gathers me in His arms like a mother hen with her chicks (Deuteronomy 32:11-12, Isaiah 66:13)

16. He won’t forget me, I’m inscribed on His palms (Isaiah 49:15-16)

I realized today that it’s okay to grieve for these losses and uncertainties… sometimes I feel I have to be so strong around God, that I have to handle every trial that comes my way with stoicism, and that it’s weakness to cry over disappointments.  But God knows… after all, He inspired the proverb, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Proverbs 13:12).  I understand this, and so does God.  I can grieve in God’s arms and let Him heal my hurts, instead of feeling like I have to be strong on my own or can’t come back to God until I’ve got it all worked out.

This is a little different from my normal blogs; I usually wait until God has finished teaching me the lesson before sharing it with others.   But  I still don’t know what God is doing, or what He will do in our situation.  I still feel uncertainty.  But after these reminders from Scripture today, the uncertainty does not lie with God’s character or in a doubt about His faithfulness to me or my family.   And I feel there are others facing their own uncertainties right now in life… and I thought you might feel encouraged, like I was today, to know it’s okay to come to God and grieve, even in the midst of whatever you are going through – and to remember God’s certain character even in the midst of life’s uncertainties.

Jesus, please help us to cling to You and to the truths of Your character even in the midst of our uncertain times.  Thank You that You are good, You are God, and You are faithful.  You will not leave us alone but will guide us and show us what to do in Your timing.  Thank You for Your unchanging love for us Jesus.