How uncertainty leads us to depend on God

I will be the first to admit that I have my days when I struggle to know what my future looks like.  I hate the unknown especially when I really hope and want a certain outcome to happen. I often get plagued by my insecurities or fears of scenarios that could happen and I feel like I’m so out of control which I absolutely hate. (Today and yesterday has been one of those days, so I decided to write what I’ve learned from this during my quiet time with the lord. )

Because of the society we live in ( well for me anyway), we are accustomed to wanting answers to every detail of our lives. We are desperate about wanting to know what the next step in life should be. Should I pursue higher education? What career should I pursue? Should I buy a new home, maybe I should get a new job? When is the right time to have children? Am I ready for ministry?

For example in a dating, we are prone to try and seize control of the situation. Affection and vulnerability with a lack of covenantal commitment is a tension that can end in either in a breakup or marriage. The stakes are high on both sides, and the pressure and fear that accompanies those stakes very likely will not be resolved in the dating process. So comes the unknown question of will I marry this person that im dating etc... In addition, there are difficulties such as sickness, finances, loss of a job, insecurity, and doubt about our purpose.

I’m not saying we should not want good things or aim high but I believe that with wanting to succeed to better you trusting God is essential. However, what I am talking about is how do I trust God when I need an answer or am praying for something specific and I don’t have it?

Being uncertain about an unknown circumstance or outcome does not make you less of a believer but God revealed to me that it’s a catalyst to sharpen my faith, and moreover my dependency  and trust in Him and not in my situation and the results of it, but rather the one who is in control. I need to reach to God and trust He will lead me in every season of your life. God revealed that my faith is rooted in my wants and not in Him to meet every one of my desires and want in a way He sees fit for my life. God reminded me that no one or want should replace Him above all nor can it be a substitute for Him.

“4You shall not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens above, the earth below, or the waters under the earth. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…” Exodus 20:5

So in saying that there are some things I want to share with you.

You can’t depend on what you see or your own strength.

I have made the mistake of thinking that I had to have everything under control. Perhaps, like me you have been hurt before and at times find it hard trusting people. King Solomon was someone who realised that trusting God above all things should be fundamental. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” other versions read “depend” on your own understanding or your own strength. It emphasizes to “TRUST IN THE LORD with all of your heart.” God wants to reveal himself to you on a deeper level, especially in those shaky situations of your life, to make you realise that He is constant and ever-changing but you must learn to surrender it to God. 

King Solomon also states to trust the Lord “with all of our heart.” Now, this also stands out! He did not say, “Trust the Lord with your entire mind,” because if it were that way an individual can know that they should trust, but not truly live by it which is completely different. To trust with “all of our heart,” means to live out a trust rooted in the Lord. This should be reflected in our actions. This means acting according to His promises when thoughts of doubt come you divert them back to the Lord “…demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” 2 Corinthians 10:5

Thoughts to Be Trained—the thoughts must be trained. Gird up the loins of the mind that it shall work in the right direction and after the order of well-formed plans; then every step is one in advance, and no effort or time is lost in following vague ideas and random plans. We must consider the aim and object of life, and ever keep worthy purposes in view. Every day the thoughts should be trained and kept to the point as the compass to the pole. Everyone should have his aims and purposes, and then make every thought and action of that character to accomplish that which he purposes. The thoughts must be controlled. There must be a fixedness of purpose to carry out that which you shall undertake.—Letter 33, 1886. (Our High Calling, 112.)

1. Seek God

 I’ve found that my most precious moments in life have been in God’s presence, as I am on my knees, crying out with all of my heart and soul. Those are the moments that we find full rest in God. In 1 Chronicles 16:11 tells us  to, “Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.” Seeking God continually means to search for God not just in our time of need or when we have plenty, but at all times! As you are driving, making decisions at work, conversing with others, making plans, or figuring out the next chapter of our life, seek God! In moments of frustration, loneliness, and desperation, seek God! Even if you are loss for words, don’t know how to approach God because the hurt is tearing you down,  Talk to Him. Even if you are resettling, you keep praying but you feel that God is not near. Seek God still!

2. Put God first

The moment we put God first, God acts on our behalf. God loves us so much and because he loves, he knows what is best for our life. He cares for our needs; he knows what is beneficial and what brings destruction.

I’m learning that God wants me to be governed by faith. My future as well as my needs is certain to God. He has all the foreknowledge, power, resources, and desire to turn everything for good for those who love Him and are called by Him (Romans 8:28).Uncertain seasons have been the most powerful God-moments I have experienced. Those moments show me that God exists and I can’t walk by sight. These seasons truly reveal my heart and what I have placed my hope in (Hebrews 11:6).

So if you are in one of those seasons, take heart. One of my favourite song lyrics by singer Tori Kelly says:

“Teach me how to love You

Show me how to trust You

More than with my words or with a song

No, it's not been easy

To live life down on my knees

But with faith I know I'll carry on

“There is more to see than with my eyes

But fear sometimes can leave me paralyzed

I realize that I'm not in control

Yet it is well with my soul”

I will trust in God, as I walk He WILL direct my paths.

Interrupted plans !!! But lord I know what i want

Ahhhh nothing worse than when you decide you're gonna have a good day, then all of a sudden everything goes wrong! You know one of them ones when you say you're gonna wake up early, then you miss your alarm, then you're late to do something else, or something goes wrong and it throws you off completely. Trust me I know! so like literally yesterday, I was like okay I'm gonna set my alarm a bit earlier, so I have enough time to do my devotion, go to the gym and finish of my proposal for my meeting with my supervisor before I have to meet him then go to lectures. So I prayed about it, gave it to God and went to sleep. Sounds good right ? Well let me tell you, my alarm went off, no problem, did my devotion- no problem, I went to check my phone to go over some material which I had on there, then next thing you know, my phone freezes and it decided to die and not operate. I was finished ! I had saved some material on there which I needed for my meeting as well as needing it for my gym routine amongst many other things. So basically I spent majority of my day stressing over my phone and pondering when the last time I had backed it up coz I didn't wanna lose my stuff on there. Very stressful . So later on that night before I went to sleep, I talked to God and reflected on my day and he revealed and highlighted some very important points which I believe we can all learn.

REALLY THO ?

I know what I want !

You see Gods timing is everything!( that's another post on its own), we cant help but make plans and wonder when its our time for something to happen, forgetting that everything has its season (Ecclesiastes 3) and we should be anxious for nothing ! The things that we plan and aspire for are often minute matters in the overall picture of life. We want to do things now and  for our lives to go in a certain direction, forgetting that to get to those places lessons need to be learned and work needs to happen in order for us to be prepared for those things we want.

One example I can give for example is that most of us girls want love and to get married. That's fine, but God repeatedly says

do not awaken love whilst it is not yet time, Songs of Solomon 8:4

BUT  we rush ahead and talk to a guy we have no business talking to for various reasons. Then we find ourselves in a situationship or having begun something , it goes wrong and you get heartbroken because you placed so much hope in this guy rather than listening to God and putting your hope in him. Its all about Gods timing and will. Some of us are going around the same mountain every year declaring that we trust God but our heart is not really in it and we are not giving him a chance to do what he would want us to do. INSTEAD we write our own vision and put God on it ! You see that's why God has to interrupt our plans sometimes, because they are not good for us nor are they perfecting our faith- we cant place our trust on our phones, degrees, people etc. because they will fail us.

God knows the desires of our hearts, but in order for him to truly move us into all that he as in store for us, we have to delight in him, commit our ways to him and wait on him inspite of our own timings.

Romans 5:3-5

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

The bigger picture ~

God sees the bigger picture, Isaiah 55:8-9 declares our plans are not his plans and his thoughts are not our thoughts, that's something we truly need to learn and apply in our lives. Who knows, maybe I could have been involved in an accident if I had left my house the time I had planned. We like something, we set our eyes on someone, things break, inconveniences happen, traffic makes us late, like I could go on and on. The thing is when these things happen how do we react ?,do we say okay God what are you tryna tell me about this, or do we curse and blame God, forgetting that there's a reason for everything ?

You see God is not surprised at these events,  in fact sometimes they are divinely placed in our path to change us to be more like Christ or to give us something much more better. So for example you said you wanted to be more patient, how do you react to the traffic ? Sometimes we expect these big dramatic events to take place and then we are gonna have a massive epiphany, but let me tell you in reality its through these small moments of interruptions and frustrations where we are given the opportunity to trust in God despite the craziness and to rely on him. Our characters are not defined in big moments, but rather through the little things each day which reveal what's on our hearts.

God is certainly teaching me that I'm not in control, I'm not saying not to plan for things because that would be foolish, but rather lets not hold too tightly to these plans, because we are gonna set ourselves up for disappointment and anger when God says otherwise. I'm not in control but I'm sooo glad I serve a God who is. One who is working all things for my good (Romans 8:28), who knows exactly what and who I need at the right time.
Proverbs 16:9 "A man's mind plans his ways, but the lord directs his steps"
so guys lets trust the process and "obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus."