Certainty in Time of Uncertainty!

Someone once cynically quipped, “There are two certainties in life: death and taxes!” While we may chuckle at that sarcastic outlook on life, the scriptures do speak of all humanity’s divine appointment with physical death. The writer of Hebrews said it this way, “It is appointed for humans to die once and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). For believers there is no need to fear the judgement that follows this certainty, because as the Apostle Paul so wonderfully puts it, “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). For Alaskans, thankfully, we are still free of state taxation, but even that is not so certain in the days to come!

As we embark on a new year, I am finding myself asking, “I wonder what is going to happen this year!” It’s not a morbid question for me, but it is a perspective adjustment for me. We often live our lives with the expectation that everything will continue on as it always has. The scoffers of II Peter use this perspective to ridicule the promise that Jesus made that he would one day return. Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation (2 Peter 3:3,4 NIV). I ask this question because I want to live my life with expectancy and purpose. Because life is a vapor and uncertain, we should make the most of every moment, should not we?

I often say with a touch of irony, “Life is the leading cause of death.” As believers we should respond to this certainty by living each day for the gift that it is from our Lord and as invited “rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

In my personal family life we have been facing some uncertain times in recent months. Family health concerns and needs have occupied our lives with hurried trips to the lower 48 to address them every month in the last six months. All of us experience seasons of uncertainty in our circumstances, do we not? These past few years have definitely revealed how uncertain life can be. From the cultural deviations of gender definitions to financial recession to cries for social justice, we live in a day of upheaval and uncertainty.

Paul, when faced with the uncertainty of prison life for doing what was right and being obedient to the call of Jesus upon his life, wrote about how to live with joy and confidence regardless of the circumstances:

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance, and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13).

Do you struggle with joy when you are facing uncertain circumstances? I have found that I must daily choose joy in Him rather than allowing my circumstances to control my perspective. As believers we can live lives of joy in spite of the unpleasant and uncertain circumstances our Lord may allow us to experience when we choose to believe that all our certainty is found in Christ alone.

My daughter, Lydia Engram, who blogs at agoodcrisis.wordpress.com and on Instagram @lydiaengram, put this truth to prose:

I carved a god for myself, and named it Certainty, an idol cast in circumstance, polished with anxiety, I cast my dreams down, before my god &, begged that they would be., But details blurred, prayers unheard. Certainty is slippery. Then I heard a still small voice, that silences every deity, “I put this longing in you, to be satisfied with Me. Give me your dreams & your creeping fears, everything you’re uncertain of. If you can be certain, be certain of this: My perfect & unending love.”

—Lydia Engram

Dr. David Ley is the President of Alaska Bible College.