I am approaching a season of uncertainty. Where was once walking in a worldly assurance, I am now at a loss for balance. With a few shocking words, the world’s rug was ripped from beneath me and I found myself falling in slow motion from my platform of confidence. Within minutes, I was facing the most uncertain time of my life. Faster than tears came, the fear grabbed me out of thin air and I was suddenly made aware that I am actually not in control.
But, in that moment, Jesus taught me a lesson:
“Do not avoid the uncertain.”
Jesus was calling me to not only step into the fear and confusion that gripped my fragile heart, but to embrace it. To walk in it, to live in it and to learn from it, with the promise that if I kept my focus on Jesus, I would find my certainty (but in a way beyond what I imagined).
Through the holy providence of Jesus, I was brought to James 1:
“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” (MSG)
As you enter into uncertainty, the first doubt is in your identity. It is so easy to feel overlooked and forgotten. But we’re to consider it a gift, a promise, that when the pressure uncertain times come, our faith and patience is magnified, and we persevere. “because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3-4).
Through perseverance, our character is built. Through the testing of our faith, through trials and uncertainties, we grow and mature. As we mature, we find our identity, and our hope, in Christ. Our identity as sons and daughters of Jesus is the most certain detail in life.
The uncertain times are the development times. Do not avoid the uncertain, for it is so much more than waiting or struggling; it is a promise of growth, dependence, faith, and freedom.
I can be assured (and reassured and reassured) of my identity of a free, lavishly loved, daughter of the King, I can walk through uncertainty without blinking an eye when I keep my focus on Jesus. The hard times will come, but whatever worldly certainty we’re offered, the certainty of Jesus love and favor over our lives is greater. I have a confidence in who I am in Christ, I can walk in a new confidence. I can approach the throne of grace, knowing full well He is not surprised or intimidated by my hurt and confusion, in fact he can empathize with my weakness and love me for it.
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Romans 4:14-16)
I can have certainty in the uncertainty, because of the faith I have in Jesus, knowing that I can persevere with faith and maturity. Let us bloom, effloresce if you will, in the uncertainty.