Our issue with uncertainty may surprise you and it's not what you think. If I told you that there was a surprise waiting for you behind a door you would most likely have feelings of anticipation; at the very least feelings of curiosity. However, that same scenario with a little movie magic, suspenseful music, and Dutch camera angles and your feelings may change to a sense of tension and concern.
Uncertainty is not the problem. It’s not uncertainty itself that is the issue, but our dynamic with expectations. When we are hopeful and excited about something unseen or in the future, we factor those emotions into how we build our expectations. There are plenty of unknowns when going on a vacation. Regardless of how much we’ve planned, we march cheerfully into that new experience and territory with measured expectation of how the unknown will make us feel. The same formula is also true with a more uncomfortable unknown. The minor twist would merely be the emotions we use to build our expectations. We may be more anxious or fearful of the outcomes we may face and thus cause more alarm within us in how we proceed.
This type of planning for the future is called catastrophizing. It is a psychological term that refers to a cognitive distortion where we envision the worst outcomes of things unknown. This type of thinking is heavily influenced by negative thoughts and worry. The website, WebMD, fuels this very behavior.
Avoiding uncertainty is impossible; it's part of life. Having no expectations is unrealistic as a solution. However, our relationship with expectations is key.
Much of the way we handle expectations is through control; dictating them and the emotions we feed them. The idea behind control is simple; so that we will never feel out of control in uncertainty. But what if that is exactly what is needed.
In the heat of a car accident, your natural tendency is to control the movement of your body. Your muscles tense up and embrace for the negative expected outcome. However, some medical advice has recommended the complete opposite; to release the tension in your body and allow yourself to be tossed naturally by the physics of the accident. If your body is relaxed in a car accident it prevents less long term physical issues.
Now you could interpret this advice to mean, “just go with the flow” or “embrace uncertainty and good outcomes will naturally arrive”, but that is incorrect. In no way should we embrace the idea of being passive in life and expect all things to work out.
In the example of the car accident, you are making an active choice to trust the expected outcome of the doctor’s advice, not the accident. The active choice to relax your body is being made based on an expectation that is not your own. You are trusting the doctor. The irony is that this advice is widely debated in the medical world. So now it is about trusting which doctor can uphold their promises.
When confronting uncertainty in our life, it is God’s expectations of the outcome that we need to trust. Because His expectations are the outcome. We need to break the habit of catastrophizing, stop forming a new expectation with every daunting scenario, and learn to trust outcomes that have been measured by God. God has made clear and trustworthy promises about our future and the needs of those who trust in Him. His Word does not give a play by play of what will happen to you next week but, He has assured us that He is with us. He has promised us an eternal future with him that outweighs the momentary afflictions we may face. Much of what we fear is merely stages of growth on the road to goodness. (Romans 8:28) God uses all things for our good. If we can trust that as the final result to where all things lead, then we can confidently go into uncertainty with sincere faith.
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 44:10
31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
Romans 8:31-35
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39
6do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
Now, trusting the Lord does not make our own imagined outcomes guaranteed (that is just expectations of His expectations). Instead it is choosing to measure the uncertainty against the Lord’s unfailing promises.
We can not ever fully know the outcome of a car crash, financial difficulty, a health scare, or any conflict, but we can have assurance in God’s sovereignty and love for us. Our issue with uncertainty is forgetting that everything is under God’s reign. If we choose to seek Him with thanksgiving, we will find ourselves strengthened and at peace as we walk in the unknown.
Comments