Scripture: verse 1
Oh that You would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at Your presence
Observation: Seth Godin recently blogged about the difference between confidence and certainty. He concludes that insisting on certainty – in yourself or in others – is a mistake. It tends to be a way of drowning out fear by ignoring possible negative outcomes. He’s primarily talking about business situations, but at the moment it rings true for faith as well.
I’d like to be certain. I’d like to know exactly what God is going to do next. I’d like Him to rend the heavens and come down so that I don’t have to think anymore.
God doesn’t seem to work like that, though. He wants us to be confident in Him, but He rarely gives us certainty. He might promise to work all things for our good (Romans 8:28) but He doesn’t say how long that will take or how He will do it. He promised to be with Jeremiah and rescue him (Jeremiah 1), but that doesn’t mean nothing bad happened. At one point Jeremiah got thrown into a cistern to die (starvation, dehydration, blood poisoning from standing in muck – take your pick) and God sent a sponsor to plead with the king and get Jeremiah out. There was rescue, but not certainty.
God says that He will be found by those who seek Him (Jer 29:13). But I’m not at all sure that we ever stop seeking. There is always more of God to find.
Application: Act on confidence. Don’t be discouraged when things are not certain.
Prayer: Lord, I praise you because you are God. I praise you because you are the only certainty. Thank you for blessing me. Help me to be confident in the future you have planned for me. Amen.
Truth By Bits 