Confronting Anxiety Meditations No.16: Living with Uncertainty
Uncertainty: Back in the early days of Covid in 2020, I have been reminded that I wrote a short series on ‘Uncertainty’. Without looking back on those studies, I just want to pick up in respect of this subject of anxiety with thoughts about how uncertainty can create anxiety.
Jesus & Uncertainty: I think my starting point is something that I have seen more than once in recent days, the thought that following Jesus is NOT, contrary to the sermons some would like to preach, a life full of certainty. Having said that, the basic facts of our salvation are certain and unassailable for they are there clearly in Scripture. Jesus died for our sins on the Cross and all that is left for us to do is believe that and submit to him as our Lord and Saviour. No doubt that happened at a critical point of our lives when the Holy Spirit convicted us of our sin, of not being in relationship with God. No doubt it was on our knees (maybe not literally for all, but I certainly did) that we prayed, asked for His forgiveness and gave Him our lives. At that point He forgave us, redeemed us, adopted us, and gave us His Holy Spirit to indwell us. All of that IS certain.
Living it out: BUT, and here it comes, but the uncertainty bit comes in the way we live out our lives following Jesus on a day-to-day basis. Now you may think that the New Testament lays down instructions and guidelines on how we are to live – and it does – but the reality is that as we have just seen in the previous two studies on deception, life is not always as clearcut as we might like it to be. There are many things where we are left to make judgments ourselves, and as much as we might hope that we are up to the task of acting wisely, that is not always so easy.
The Church Approach: So there are times when we are called to exercise judgments in respect of people. That happens when we have opportunities to vote, at local elections or national elections. In church, the New Testament approach (contrary to some parts of the Church that put education above Holy Spirit anointing) is for God to raise up elders and the congregation then to recognise them in that role. How many today in leadership roles do not have that Holy Spirit anointing? Is this why the Church is often so powerless?
And Others: But choosing people is also the requirement of managers in business or institutions – schools, hospitals, police, fire brigade, etc., etc. Establishing working policies, growth strategies etc., are all things where we have to make acts of judgment and, if we are wise, seek the wisdom and direction of God.
Discipleship often equals Uncertainty: But if we go back to the Biblical model of discipleship it simply means following Jesus. For the first followers, called to literally follow him wherever he led them, that was definitely a life full of uncertainty. Only he and the Father would know where they were going next, who or what they would encounter. Sometimes it is clear that Jesus led them into challenging situations (and we’ll look at some of them in more detail later to see how we cope with specific things) so there were times when resources were short, times when the weather turned bad, times when they were confronted by scarily powerful demoniacs, and there were times when Jesus made decisions that had them whispering among themselves about what he was doing.
Living NOT by Sight: When we read Paul’s “For we live by faith, not by sight,” (2 Cor 5:7 echoing Hab 2:4) we so often forget that that means that often we can’t see where we are going, and so we just have to trust the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide us. That is often a very uncertain walk, and the rule has to be, just put one foot in front of the other and let him take you on. Guidance sometimes comes just from a sense of disquiet that an apparent path to one way, say, is not the right one.
And So… So we have a whole spectrum of things to look at in the days ahead which, unless approached with faith and wisdom, will be things that bring anxiety into our lives. As a starting point, before going into the details, the broad approach is to remember the Old Testament teaching: “Trust in the Lord and do good … Take delight in the Lord …. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him,” (Psa 37:3-5) so that we may “dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture… and he will give you the desires of your heart… He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn.” (v.3-6) Summed up, put it in His hands at the beginning of each day and let Him lead you into the life of blessing He wants for you. Oh, yes, also a life of overcoming anxiety!
Bible Meditation Shop 