For the end of the semester at the Center for Global Action, Worship Track hosted “A Night of Celebration.” The event was a showcase of what the Lord has taught us this semester. Many wrote songs of their own, presented art, led worship and gave words of poetry and Scripture.
Here is the teaching that I shared:
The Blessing of Uncertainty
I never knew that I would quote Tim Tebow, but here goes—“I don’t know what my future holds, but I know who holds my future.”
I love that idea, but honestly, not knowing what will happen in the near future is difficult.
But then I think of Abraham. The Lord promised him that he would become the father of many nations when he was 75, but he saw no evidence of that happening until he was 100. It seems like people give him a hard time for striving, having doubt. (Granted, some of his decisions were questionable.) Personally, though, I couldn’t talk because, to be honest, I get antsy from a few months of waiting.
Throughout Scripture there is a theme of waiting—40 days here, 40 years there, and then the entire Old Testament which is composed of stories of those who awaited the covenant in which we now live.
All of this makes me think that the Lord has a reason for designing our lives to include a disproportionate time for the wait. I believe it’s because a period of uncertainty is like healthy soil for our lives. The things planted there will thrive, sustaining us so we can be like trees planted by the stream that are fruitful through all seasons. If we see uncertainty as a vital opportunity, it becomes a blessing.
Uncertainty is an opportunity to cultivate faith, hope and trust in our lives.
If we knew how everything would happen, the three would be unnecessary. But think of how important they are for our relationship with the Lord. And once we learn to trust, we can be entrusted with what the Lord has for us.
Secondly, uncertainty is an opportunity for me to let go of my plan and partner in his.
Once I surrender the hope I have in my dreams (how I imagine the Lord should manifest his promises in my life), and refocus that hope on God, he can use my life to achieve in and through me infinitely more than I could ever think of or ask for.
Finally, uncertainty is an opportunity for greater intimacy with God.
When we finally realize that the promises we wait for won’t actually satisfy us (they are not even the point), we can see that the only one who can is actually the one whose voice is reminding us of those promises. Because we don’t have anything visible to distract us, we can focus on his voice. The more we listen to him, the more we love him; the more we understand that he is good and that his plan is beautiful regardless of how things appear in the present.
Now we can see uncertainty as a blessing because it is the force which draws us closer to the one of whom we can be certain.
