Certainty

Certainty is something we grasp for, we long to know. But certainty is an aberration born from our need for security, safety, and love. Circumstances are allowed into our lives which remind us that we are not in control. Circumstances over which, we are powerless. We cannot make them right, we cannot make the mountain move. Yet, we want certainty that the mountain will move, and wrongs will be made right. We want to know that we will be ok. We want to know that life is not just pain after pain. We want to hear a voice saying – “you’ll never be alone,” because deep down we feel so powerless, so alone, so unable and helpless. Yet, as strong individuals – we rebel against such feelings and grasp for whatever certainty we can hold onto.

Well my dear ones, there is certainty we can hold on to. The following things won’t give specific answers to your problems, but you’ll find that you don’t need those answers. That which we grasp onto for certainty is that which cannot be moved or shaken, yet can be entreated and warmed.
Points of certainty:

There is no condemnation

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Jeshua the Messiah (Romans 8:1).” I mention this first as a reminder that God does not view us the way we view ourselves. When I am grasping for certainty, most often there is some obvious (at least to me) sin in my life: anxiety, mis-trust, anger, covetousness. This verse is not an excuse for sin, but rather a comfort. As believers who hate sin and despise every evidence of it in ourselves, it is easy to get caught up in a view of self that is defined by the sin we see most clearly at the moment. Yet the Psalmist reminds us: “As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:10).” When God views us, He doesn’t see our sin. He doesn’t look at us with the condemnation we would hold for ourselves. He sees nothing but his beautiful, fresh out of the tub children, and smiles as He reaches out to hold us.

Nothing can separate us from God

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. (John 10:28-30)” There is not one pair of divine hands holding us, but two. We are doubly protected and cared for, so precious that Jeshua does not only hold us Himself, but the Father wraps His arms around us in comfort and joy. Our Father continues in Roman’s 8, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor power, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Jeshua the Messiah our Lord (35-39).” Since we cannot be separated from Him, He will always be with us. “I will never leave you nor forsake you (Heb 13:5b),” “I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt 28:20).” But what does this mean practically? God being “with us” is an abstract concept – we don’t actually see or feel his presence.

El Roi

An Egyptian slave girl named Him, “You are the God who sees me – ‘el roi” (Gen 16:13). Later Abraham names a mountain “The LORD will see – ‘adoni jireh” (Gen 22:14), which is commonly translated “The LORD provides.” The Hebrew root in both words is the same, “ra’ah,” meaning “he saw.” David in Psalm 139:7-12 says, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” I quote all that to make one simple point: God sees you. How often do I feel invisible, as though the Lord does not see my life, my pain, my service – and yet that is not true! He is El Roi, Adoni Jireh. Not only has He seen in the past – He will continue to do so in the future no matter where I am, no matter where I go – He is watching. Not a sparrow can die, not a blade of grass can fall without His notice, and we truly are much more valuable than they (Matt 6).

We are loved

A God who always sees us would be terrifying if He was not a God of love (or if we have not chosen to repent). And He is such a God of love, “being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us (Eph 2:4)” But concretely, what does that mean – a “God of love.” Scripture gives us a beautiful definition of Agape love: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away...So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love (I Cor 13:4-8, 13).” This passage does not merely describe the love we should have one-to-another, but it describes just a glimmer of the love God has for us.

Purpose

In His love for us, He saved us – and foreordained a purpose for us. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand, that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10).” This verse then states that we are not purposeless beings sent to wander the earth aimlessly in search of. . . something. We are placed here with a purpose, and gifted in such a way as to accomplish that purpose. God will provide for our needs in accordance with what He has for us to do. None of us is put on this earth for no reason we can take comfort in our purposefulness which God has taken centuries to work out in each of us, as He kept us safe and molded us – but not only us. He brought our parents together, our grandparents – saving them and preserving them through the situations of life so that someday YOU and I would be here. And someday, if the Lord wills, He will give us children, for whom He has a purpose also. Our lives will be a reflection of his foreordained care and love for that new person who is going to do great things for HIM!

Provides for needs

This is the one I struggle with the most. Perhaps because I’m so used to it – and He as provided for me throughout my life in ways I take for granted and don’t even notice. I have an amazing loving family with AWESOME parents (who are becoming very close friends as I age), great siblings, a stable, loving environment when I’ve been nurtured, comforted, corrected, and taught love, wisdom and compassion. I’ve always had food – and plenty of wonderfully prepared nutritionally thought out food. I have had a stellar education – which fit who I am perfectly: homeschooled through high school so that I could learn my way, in college I had great professors who changed my view of the world, opened new doors, and invested in me personally, in grad school I had friends and mentors who pulled me through. I have a church family, who cares and sees me as God made me, and accepts that. Yet, when faced with an uncertain future – I fear the worst – that God will forget me, leave me behind, shelve me for someone/thing else. This makes no logical or spiritual sense – He is the provider as seen through the whole of Scripture – and as I have unwittingly experienced my ENTIRE life while taking it all for granted. Will His character suddenly change? Will He suddenly abandon my, and my hopes and dreams, out of carelessness or spite? NO. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. He won’t change is character, His plan, or His will (which is FOR us, not against). “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble (Matthew 6:25-34).”

Suffering

Suffering is also a certainty. This is the one of which we are all terribly afraid. Suffering equals pain. Pain is not a natural part of the created world – it entered with sin. It is easy to live life afraid of, and avoiding suffering. Yet, it will come in dramatic ways (the loss of a spouse, child, parent, job, country) or seemingly small insignificant ways (loneness, boredom, bad grades). Some are brought on by our own actions; others forced upon us. We all react to suffering differently, and what may be huge to one person isn’t even suffering to another, and what one person views as a tiny thing, can rock the world of his friend. I do not understand why God would choose suffering as a primary agent of change and growth in our lives – but He does. So, all the more, in the middle of suffering, the above certainties are still true – still valid, and must be held onto. God does not allow suffering out of his own pleasure or vindictive power. He allows it out of His goodness and love. Because, through His divine will – suffering is how mankind gains depth and maturity. As you suffer – you will start to recognize this and notice it in yourself and others. As you do – the pain will lessen, slightly.

Elisabeth Elliot in her book “A Path Through Suffering” gives the following reasons for suffering, may they comfort your soul:
First, we suffer FOR OUR OWN SAKE:
That we may learn who God is (Ps 46:1; Dn 4:24-37; Job)
That we my learn to trust (2 Cor 1:8-9)
That we may learn to oben (Ps 119:67, 71)
Discipline is proof of the Father’s love and the validity of our sonship (Heb 12:5-11)
It is the condition of discipleship (Acts 14:22; Lk 14:26-27, 33)
It is required of soldiers (2 Tim 2:4)
We are being “pruned” the we may bear fruit (Jn 15:2)
That we may be shaped to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29)
To qualify us to be fellow-hears with Christ (Rom 8:17)
To qualify us for the kingdom of God (2 Thes 1:4-5)
To qualify us to reign with Christ (2 Tim 2:12)
That our faith may be strengthened (Jas 1:3; 2 Thes 1:4-5; Acts 14:22)
That faith may be tested and refined (Is 43:2; Dn 11:35; Mal 3:2; 1 Cor 3:13; 1Pt 1:7)
That we may reach spiritual maturity (Jas 1:4)
Power comes to its full strength in weakness (2 Cor 12:9)
To produce in us endurance, character, hope (Rom 5:3-4)
To produce in us joy and generosity (2 Cor 8:2)

Second, we suffer FOR THE SAKE OF GOD’S PEOPLE:
That they may obtain salvation (2 Tim 2:10)
To give them courage (Phil 1:14)
That because of death working in us, life may work in them (2 Cor 4:12; Gal 4:13; 1 Jn 3:16)
That grace may extend to more (2 Cor 4:15)
That our generosity may bless others (2 Cor 8:2)

Third, we suffer FOR THE WORLD’S SAKE:
That it may be shown what love and obedience mean (Job; Jn 14:31; Mt 27:40-43)
That the life of [Jeshua] may be visible in ordinary human flesh (2 Cor 4:10)

Forth, we suffer FOR THE SAKE OF THE MESSIAH:
That we may be identified with Him in His crucifixion (Gal 2:20)
Suffering is the corollary of faith (Ps 44:22; Acts 9:16, 14:22; 2 Tm 3:12; Jn 15:18-21; 1 Thes 1:6, 3:4)
That we may share in His glory (Rom 8:17-18; Heb 2:9-10; 2 Cor 4:17)