Navigating Uncertain Waters

(NOTE: This was written last summer. Since then my own trials have not only continued, but increased. Has it been easy? No. But I still believe these words. For some yet unknown reason, God is allowing me to experience wave after wave of turbulence. So I offer this as one who knows of what he speaks.)


How are you doing in these days?
Gas prices, housing and mortgage crisis, layoffs, war, terrorism, inflation, and recession are all too common words we hear everyday. Uncertain times? Certainly for many.
Nobody knows for sure where these days are leading. If you are laid off, or just struggling to keep your head above water, you are hurting right now.
It’s an election year, and there is plenty of blame for the one candidate, and optimism for the other.
Yet the harsh realities of unemployment and hardships are real. A case can be made that many of our economic woes are due to greed. You can attribute our wars and violence to hatred and distrust. Is this a time for hand wringing?
Is there a way to navigate these uncertain times? I would suggest there is. We navigate uncertain times with a certain God. Because we either live in a random evolutionary world, with it’s impersonal ups and downs, or a world governed by a loving God.
There are many Bible passages that illustrate this but I’ll use two. First of all the Psalmist in Psalm 121, which is a Psalm sung by pilgrims on their way to worship in Jerusalem. The refrain is "my help comes from the Lord". This is a testimony of faithful believers who remind us that this is in fact the case.
We dare not become a society that sits around wringing our hands as if there were no one who watches, keeps, establishes, shields and preserves as the pilgrims in Ps 121 testify. We need to remember this. Our parents and grand parents who’ve been through this, testify to this.
The second is the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness i.e. desert. A reading of the Old Testament tells us there were 600,000 men besides women and children (Ex. 12.37). Now biblical scholars who’ve studied the probable area they traveled, tell us that every journey in these parts goes from water source to water source. Water is an issue, a big issue in a desert. It’s scarce, even for a small group. The point? The Israelites were in danger—real danger—they were in a desert. But God promised to provide for the several million congregation—and He did. In fact the Lord’s Prayer is based upon this very experience.
How does this translate into our lives? Just this: Yes, hard times are real. They are fraught with real danger. Just as the Israelites were in a desert. Yet, God proved faithful and provided for their daily needs. So how do you navigate uncertain times while in real danger? Well it’s not easy, but it helps to remember that God promises "daily bread"—not necessarily the "Sams Club" super sized quantities we may be used to. But He does provide and protect. Also, it helps to restore your relationship with him. Get close, through your devotional life, prayer and Bible Study.
We must check where our trust is directed. Confidence and expectation in this world system, whether it be success in vocation, education, pleasure or relationship, even though promised and at times achieved in varying degrees, always crashes down in disappointment. Meanwhile God’s unchanging Word never changes.
Uncertain, or hard times are not new. In fact our parents and grand parents lived through hard times in a period we call the recession. In addition it was a time when there were two world wars, and retired NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw calls this group the Greatest Generation. No one wants these times of difficulty, but they do seem to make us better people, if for no other reason, than we begin to realize where our help comes from—It comes from the Lord, (Psalm 121).

That's what I know a poor, part-time country preacher