Embracing Uncertainty

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.” –Proverbs 16:3

So much has changed in a year. Last July, I remember spending all my time trying to get back in shape for volleyball. I was absolutely determined to play again, to get back on the court, and to be better than I was before. This July, I’m not training for volleyball at all. Now that I think about it, this is the first summer since 5^th grade that I haven’t been training and getting ready for volleyball season. It’s weird. It’s unknown. It’s unfamiliar.

Now, I’m in a very different season of my life—training and getting ready for my first year of teaching. I’m excited, scared, not ready, and ready all in one. It’s weird. It’s unknown. It’s unfamiliar.

I’m in a season of uncertainty.

Before, every single summer I knew what I was getting myself into in the next season. Now, I have no idea what teaching will be like. I have no idea if I’ll like it, or if I’ll be good at it. Some days I think I know what to expect, but most days I’m completely uncertain about how it will all play out.

But here’s a crucial thing that God has been teaching me: Uncertainty doesn’t mean that God is gone.

I’m in a season of uncertainty, but I’m certain that God has established my plans.

In this weird, unknown, and unfamiliar season of my life I’m learning a lot more about who God is.

He is present in our uncertainty. He is working in our lives in uncertainty. He is aware that change is scary, and maybe that’s one reason why He never changes. God is an unmoving rock in the midst of our uncertainty.

“But the Lord has been my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.” –Psalm 94:22

I love this verse. Specifically, that it uses the word “has.” Because it is a reminder that God HAS always been my stronghold. He HAS always been unmoving. He HAS always been the one thing I could always be certain of. I just didn’t see that truth clearly until I was brought into a season of uncertainty.

I believe that oftentimes God works in mysterious ways, but I also think a lot of the work God has done in my life makes complete sense…Almost, in an ironic kind of way.

It took my weakness to realize that God is my strength.

It took my wandering to see that God is my Shepherd.

My unanswered questions taught me that God is in complete control.

My emptiness allowed my heart to be made full.

My strength taught me that I’m not that strong.

A destroyed knee taught me how to fall before Christ in vulnerability.

And my uncertainty revealed that God has always been my rock, my stronghold, and my certainty.

So embrace the uncertainty in your life. Embrace all those pesky, annoying, and painful things, trusting that it is in those things that God is going to reveal Himself to you.

Keep running the race, looking forward to the work that God is going to do in your life in the midst of the unfamiliar. In the midst of the strange unknown. And in the midst of uncertainty.