In today’s discussion, we address facing uncertainty and how to cope when outcomes are unknown. We discuss the importance of partnering with God. This partnership could be proactive, preparing in advance with God’s guidance, or reactive when we find ourselves already amidst uncertainty.
Regardless, God’s love and guidance remain constant. Importantly, we need to trust God, acknowledging that he knows our needs better than we do and will provide for them accordingly.
Even for aspects beyond our understanding or view, trusting God to shape outcomes, according to his plans is crucial. To navigate uncertainty, we must learn to trust God’s will, reducing anxiety and ensuring all will unfold according to His perfect plan.
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Transcript:
How can we cope when we don’t know what is going to happen next? How should we deal with a situation when we don’t know what the outcome of a situation will be? Throughout this message, I would like to share details of a situation and how I am walking with God as I face uncertainty.
It’s out of your hands
When circumstances are out of your hands it can be unsettling and even a source of anxiety. We cannot control how others will behave in a situation. If we are in need or are truly desiring a particular outcome, it can be even more upsetting to cope with the lack of control of a situation.
The situation I would like to share with you today that is out of my hands is the milestone of this ministry being self-sustaining from financial supporters. I am paying for all of the expenses of this ministry out of pocket, and I am grateful to God to have those resources, but I can only go so far without financial support from the community. I am uncertain as to when we will reach a point where there is sufficient support from people like you to be able to grow the ministry, grow the following, and pursue missions that have an impact on the world around us.
So, let’s walk through how I face uncertainty about this situation.
Partnering with God
One of the most important things to do in the face of uncertainty is to decide to partner with God. You can partner with God on day 1 or, you may only realize you can partner with God when you are already in the midst of a situation. Let us look at both.
Being proactive
One of the ways we can deal with uncertainty is to prepare in advance. Often, we will know before taking a step forward in a situation that there will be unknowns. In these cases, we must make sure to decide that we are partnering with God before taking a single step. How do we partner with God? We ask Him before making a single step to let His will be made known to us. We ask Him to order our steps as we move forward and adjust our path as He sees fit. We ask Him to advocate for us behind the scenes.
Let’s touch on the situation I explained earlier. I knew from years of experience that when I had the vision to start this ministry, I should bring it before God. Some would say what I am doing is controversial and so I wanted to lean on God from day 1. So I asked Him to order my steps and partner with me in this ministry, showing me His will step by step.
Stuck in the middle
Sometimes, we do not have the foresight to know to ask God to partner with us on a situation from day 1. Sometimes we are already in the mix of a situation and now we are facing uncertainty when it comes to outcomes or circumstances that may affect us. Perhaps you have been minding your own business and all of a sudden a situation has dropped in your lap and you are now in the face of uncertainty.
Fear not, God is loving. God is kind. We can ask God for help, even if we are in the middle of a situation. Keep in mind, each situation is different, however, God is always the same. God is not going to love you less than if you had come to Him in the beginning. God knows the appropriate way to help us when in need, even in the middle of chaos. We can come to God, and explain our concerns and fears, and hopes. We can and still should ask God for His will to be done in our circumstances.
Back to my situation, I pray continuously about this ministry and I admit, at times I have felt uncertain as to how I should be prepared to support it financially. I have no idea when or how the ministry will have support from its followers, but I have asked God to help me to know His plans on how to expand our reach and grow as a ministry. I have asked God to partner with me, using me as He sees fit as far as this ministry is concerned.
Trusting God
Once we have postured ourselves to partner with God and look to His guidance in our circumstances, we then need to position ourselves to trust God with what is next.
Trusting God to handle your needs
When facing uncertainty, trusting God to know and address your needs is key. Remember, God knows what you need far more than you know what you need. We need only to acknowledge this fact to Him and yield to His leading.
God does not need our advice, our suggestion, or any of our input. Even so, I believe He loves us so much that He is willing to hear our concerns and our worries.
When facing uncertainty, ask God to ensure your needs are met, then trust Him – knowing that He will provide for your needs.
Back to my situation. I trust God to supply the ministry with what it needs. That could manifest as financial support from my bank account, volunteers, or even wisdom to impart to me on how to achieve His plan for the ministry.
Trusting God to handle what is outside of your understanding
So, there are times we feel as though we know what we need when facing uncertainty, but we should also consider that God can be trusted with what we -dont- know.
When facing uncertainty, trust God to handle the areas of your circumstances that are outside of your view and outside of your understanding. Trust God to intervene on the things you don’t know that you don’t know.
Only God can touch the hearts and minds of individuals in your circumstances that will shape the outcome to match His plans for you. When facing uncertainty, let God know that you trust Him with the things unseen and unknown to you.
Touching on my situation once more, I trust God 100% to handle the things concerning this ministry that I don’t know that I don’t know. I even trust Him to orchestrate things that will shape the outcomes for the ministry in ways I will never know.
Wrap Up
In this message, we discussed a number of ways to approach uncertainty when we walk with God. We learned that partnering with God in all of our circumstances is so important. If possible, we should decide to bring our plans before God before making a single step. In doing this and asking for His will to be done, we can be assured to be guided to what He feels is best.
We also discussed that we can trust God when we are facing uncertainty. That we can trust Him to provide what we need. Perhaps we may not receive what we want, but most certainly – what we need. We can also trust God when it comes to the unseen, the unknown, and the unheard. We can trust that God is behind the scenes, orchestrating circumstances unbeknownst to us.
Ultimately, when we find ourselves facing uncertainty, I believe learning to trust God’s will in our lives is key to lower and even eliminate anxiety in the unknown. Let us bring the uncertainty in our lives to God and trust that with Him, all will be according to His perfect plan.
Are you interested in discovering more about the guidance offered in this message? Learn more in the companion article Going Deeper with the Word: In the Face of Uncertainty
