Hope When Life Feels Uncertain

Our God is the same promise-keeping, grace-showering, life-giving God, today and always.

Have you ever felt uncertain? You know, that unsettled feeling you get when you don’t know what is going to happen next. The dictionary defines uncertainty as “being in a state of regular or constant change.” Sounds like life on a daily basis, right?

We can feel uncertain about our jobs and the state of the economy. We might ask ourselves: Will I lose my job? Will I find a new one? Or we feel uncertain about our health—what if the test results come back positive? 

We can feel uncertain about our families’ safety, especially when we hear of terrible tragedies on the news each evening and ask ourselves: Is it safe to go here or there?  

We may even feel uncertain about the world around us and wonder: what kind of a world are we leaving our children? 

When life is uncertain, there is little in which to plant our hopes or expectations for the future. It’s hard to know what or who to depend upon—or sometimes, even who to believe.

Yet, as believers, we are not left on our own to navigate uncertain times. We are not left unanchored in stormy seas. While uncertainty is hard and challenging, we do have hope. And we can have certainty, even in uncertain times.

Three Certainties in Uncertain Times

God Does Not Change

When life feels uncertain, we have to return to what is true about God. To do so, remind ourselves of His character. One of God’s attributes is that He does not change. Malachi 3:6 says, “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.“ 

In Malachi’s day, God’s people had sinned against Him, but He did not destroy them because of the covenant He made with them. His promises stood firm. Theologians called this unchanging nature of God His immutability. Nothing about God can change. He can’t become less holy or righteous or merciful than He is. He can’t gain more wisdom or be more just than He already is. He won’t stop loving us or providing for us. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

When life feels chaotic and in constant flux for us, God’s immutability is a fixed and steady truth for us to cling to. We can trust His promises for us will stand secure. We can know His Word remains forever. We can trust that who God is in His character and being is the same today as it was when He called Abram out of Ur and when Isaiah saw Him seated on the throne of heaven. He is the same God who sent the eternal Son to live and die in our place. 

Our God is the same promise-keeping, grace-showering, life-giving God, today and always.

God is Sovereign 

God is not surprised by the uncertainties of life. He is not taken off guard or caught unawares by the chaos we experience. He has not gotten busy with some other task in the universe and returned to find the world a giant mess. God is sovereign. He is the supreme sovereign.  “…for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’” (Isaiah 46:9-10).

The One who flung the stars across the galaxy, the One who breathed in man the breath of life, is the One who rules over all he has made. As Christians, we can take great hope in knowing that God is sovereign over all details of our lives. Nothing and no one can thwart His good plans for us. He is at work in all the chaos, confusion, and uncertainty, orchestrating it for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28-29).

God is With Us

God is present with us in the chaos. The meta-promise of Scripture, “I will be their God and they shall be My people” (Jeremiah 32:38) was fulfilled in Christ when He took on human flesh and lived the life we could not live and died the death we deserved. Immanuel, God with us, brought order to the chaos of this world by healing all that was broken. He reconciled us to God. There are now no barriers between us and God; we can come to the throne in confidence and find help and grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

Before our Savior returned to heaven, He promised a Helper would come (John 14:26). The Spirit has come and now lives within us. He comforts, guides, teaches, convicts, and trains us in righteousness. 

God is with us! Whatever the chaos, whatever the uncertainty, whatever the unknowns, we are not alone. We are held safe and secure. No evil can threaten to undo us. Our God is near.

Whatever your uncertainty today, you have a certain hope in your great God who is unchanging, sovereign, and present with you.

Father, we come before you uncertain about life. There is so much change and chaos. There is so much unknown. We worry and fear about the future. Help us to remember who you are. Help us to remember your promises. Help us to know you stand with us in the storms of life. Be our anchor. Keep and preserve us. Comfort and guide us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

God is with us! Whatever the chaos, whatever the uncertainty, whatever the unknowns, we are not alone. We are held safe and secure. No evil can threaten to undo us. Our God is near.