Life is filled with uncertainties. Every situation we face has its unpredictable elements, wildcards, variables. For that reason, life can seem like a long voyage on a sea of uncertainties. The unknown becomes the most prominent factor in our minds.
I don’t know if I’m going to get better.
I don’t know if they’re going to trust in Jesus.
I don’t know how we’re going to pay for it.
I don’t know how to fix this relationship.
I don’t know how long this blessed season is going to last.
Each of the above has a host of variations, but the common theme is, “I don’t know what tomorrow holds.”
The enemy, the world, the unsanctified flesh would have us fixate on the unknowns, laying awake at night fretting, waiting for the other shoe to drop, hoping and praying for the best but preparing for the worst. Without conscious effort to direct our thoughts elsewhere, we may find ourselves anxious or depressed.
In addition to numerous exhortations to cast our cares on the Lord (Psa 55:22; Matt 6:25; 1 Pet 5:7), the Scriptures direct our attention to the unchanging nature of God. In every situation, the Lord is the one constant, the non-variable. Malachi 3:6 “For I the Lord do not change…”. James 1:17 “…with [Him] there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
No wonder, the biblical authors model and call for fixation on the Lord and His ways. Psa 16:8a, “I have set the Lord always before me…” Psalm 25:15 “My eyes are ever toward the Lord…” Psalm 119:15 “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.” Psalm 63:5-6, “My soul will be satisfied…when I remember you upon my bed…” Isaiah 26:3 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Hebrews 3:1 “…consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession…”
If we would be grounded during seasons of uncertainty, there are particular aspects of His constancy that would be especially worthy of meditation.
• “He always loves me.” That is, the Lord’s disposition toward His people in only ever one of love. Even in our obstinate lostness, His love stood behind His sending Christ to redeem us (John 3:16; Rom 5:8). This truth moved Paul famously to conclude that nothing could separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:38-39).
• “He is always kind to me.” Consider the wonderful words of Psalm 145:17: “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.” Note the word “all” in that last phrase. This takes on glorious gravity when we consider that He “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Eph 3:11). In all things the Lord is kind to us. Not just in the most predictable circumstances. Not just in the most temporally favorable things. In all things, He is kind to us.
• “He always works for my good.” Bring on the wildcards…in everyone of them His design is to do us good (Rom 8:28-30). Even when we taste the bitter fruit of man’s evil against us, there is the sweet knowledge that God has intended good in and through the same events (Gen 50:20).
• “He always gets His way.” The God who loves us, is ever kind to us, and who is zealous for our good is also the God who has said, “…I will accomplish all my purpose” (Isa 46:10; cf Psa 33:11). Let all men stand against Him to thwart His will; He only laughs and uses them as unwitting servants of His plan (Psa 2:1-12; Isa 10:5-7; Acts 2:23; 4:27-28). His unalterable sovereignty comforts us precisely because of His unchanging love, kindness, and commitment to good.
• “He always gets it right.” The above constants are great…unless God is prone to make mistakes. Benevolent sovereignty provides certainty only if it is directed by wisdom. Hallelujah then that He is “the only wise God” (Rom 16:27). Indeed, wisdom belongs to Him (Dan 2:20) so that if anyone else would be wise, they must get it from Him (Jas 1:5). A precious constant in the rolling sea of uncertainty is that no matter what eventuates, no mistake comes from the mind and hand of God!
Consider then the blessing of those focused on His constancy: they are immovable. The sea may rage around them, tossing unexpected eventualities, but they are firmly anchored in the Unchangeable One.
Psalm 16:8 “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.”
Psalm 46:5 “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved…”
Psalm 62:2 “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”
Psalm 125:1 “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.”
Hebrews 6:19 “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain.”
Such passages frame immovability not as invulnerability to suffering, change, and circumstantial uncertainty, but as an unshakable stability rooted in the person and work of God. Surely, as we traverse this life there will be a steady stream of unknowns. Yet, because God is unchanging, we have a firm foundation in all situations. Let’s fix our minds and hearts on Him.
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