Dealing with Seasons of Uncertainty

Suddenly you need to move on and you have no idea what lies around the bend! 

I have used the words ‘this season’ quite a bit in my recent articles, and I will use it again because that is where we are right now – in a season. Things have changed drastically for almost everyone around the world, and we are not able to tell what will happen in the future. The uncertainty in the air is so thick you can catch it and put it in a bag!

I don’t know about you, but I hate uncertainty. I like to be in control and have a fair idea of what is coming next. I like to know which way to go even if I don’t know what will happen when I reach my destination. I like to know, in a general sense, what I will be up to for the next month or so. And I suspect I am not the only one who feels like this.

Uncertainty sucks. It has to be handled, though.

God just loves to teach us lessons when He has our attention. I must say that He has my full attention right now, and the lessons are coming hard and fast. Let me share some of them below.

Gather wisdom for the journey ahead

Being at home has given me the opportunity to learn lots of things. One key lesson has been that wisdom is important. Very important. There was a time I was confused about the regulations and information we were receiving from the government. I didn’t know who to believe, because other reliable sources were providing conflicting information. You can imagine the situation I was in, considering I have a special needs child in the house.

At this time, I started going through the book of Proverbs. What an eye-opening book it is! I realized that all the wisdom I needed to figure out what was going on was available – from the Lord and in His word.

Proverbs 19:8 “The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.” (NIV)

James 1:5 says this:

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (NIV)

I guess that is where I should have started – I should have asked God for wisdom before I fell into a pit of distress. Imagine being offered a free gift but not taking advantage of it because the only requirement is to ask for it!  That is where many of us are because we fail to ask God for His wisdom when we need it the most.

Let me keep gathering Godly wisdom for now – I am sure quite sure it will come in handy in the future!

Listen carefully to what He is saying

Gideon was a young man from the tribe of Manasseh, a man who God chose to use to deliver the nation of Israel from the Midianites. After going back and forth asking for confirmation that God had truly called him (the famous ‘fleece’ story in Judges 6), Gideon finally agreed to obey the Lord and carry out the task given to Him.

There was a catch, though. The army was too large, and the Lord knew that if they won the battle, nobody would remember that their victory came from Him.

Judges 7:2 ‘The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, “My own strength has saved me.”’ (NIV)

 And thus began a series of interesting instructions for Gideon to follow. First, those who trembled with fear were given a chance to go back home. Next, those who knelt to drink water were removed. Only 300 men remained, and those were the ones God wanted in Gideon’s army.

What would you be thinking if you were Gideon? You had an army of 32,000 men with whom you were supposed to advance against the Midianites, and now they were drastically reduced to 300! God however promised Gideon that with those 300 men, He would save Israel. And sure enough, Gideon and his men were victorious over Midian!

What if Gideon had refused to follow the Lord’s instructions? What if he had decided to do things his own way? What if he had rubbished the simple instructions he received?

Do you sometimes hear God saying something to you and you ignore it because it does not make any sense? I can tell you that when things around us are uncertain, a lot of what God says to us seems not to make sense. The biggest challenge here is not just hearing what He says, but also obeying it without question, even if you have no idea what it’s all about!

Proverbs 4:13 “Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.” (NIV)

Let Him handle what lies ahead

I know I have written about this in many other articles. I guess it’s because I am work in progress in this area – surrendering everything to the Lord and letting Him take control.

Now – when you are going through a period of uncertainty, letting God take over is one of the hardest things you can do.

It’s also the best thing you can do.

When I joined university, I had no idea what lay ahead. I was called to do a course I had never heard of, in a town I had never been to! There were so many students on campus, some looking way older than I was! To make matters worse, the older students would come to ‘prey’ on the younger ones every night!

Classes started, and though I tried my best to understand what was being taught and what I was doing there, I was uncertain most of the time. I could not visualize my future in the profession, no matter how hard I tried. In short, I had no idea what would happen when I graduated.

At the end of my second year, after going through a very difficult academic year, I decided to surrender everything to the Lord. That was a bold move, considering I had two years of school left! But I did it and waited to see what He had in store.

What God had in store was not what I expected. My experience at that university turned out to be one that shaped me spiritually for life. I grew in the faith. I learnt a lot about ministry. I learnt to go and sit in the field with a notebook and Bible and talk to the Lord. I learnt how to cry out the Lord on the bad days.

Looking back, I don’t understand everything about those campus years, because I still had my fair share of challenges and failures. One thing I am sure about, however, is this – surrendering everything to the Lord is what got me through.

As I look ahead today, I have no idea what will happen the next week, the next month, or the next year. What I do know is that if I leave every hour, day, week, month, and year in His hands, He will handle things perfectly!

 Proverbs 20:24 “The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?”  (NLT)

Friends, dealing with seasons of uncertainty requires one thing – faith in someone who is strong enough to handle whatever comes your way and loves you enough to make sure that everything works out for your good. I know it’s not easy trusting in someone you have never seen, but I can tell you for sure that it is the best decision you will ever make. Trust in the Lord today, and let Him handle your seasons of uncertainty on your behalf.

 

 

Let’s pray. Lord, in these uncertain times I put my trust in You, knowing that You love me and You will work out things for my good because I am your child. I ask that You take control of everything that I lay in Your hands today. Amen.