Our natural inclination as athletes is to be continually prepared – so planned out and goal-oriented that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We are conditioned to reach some predetermined goal and rightfully so, as that is the nature of the physical life we live as daily athletes. This natural tunnel vision is appropriate and acceptable for our training goals BUT we have to constantly remind ourselves that certainty is not the nature of the spiritual life. Contrary to our very certain physical life, the nature of the spiritual life is that of uncertainty.
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.
Change your mindset of the unknown
Certainty (our plan) is the mark of the commonsense life, uncertainty (God’s plan) is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all of our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. When we are uncertain we tend to be sad or disappointed (with God), but uncertainty should be an expression of child-like anticipation not adult-like pessimism.
Yes, I understand that this is blind trust AND total reliance on God – and that as an athlete this type of trust is in complete opposition to how we trust our coaches, trainers and even our family members – but that is the point of faith! We can’t be certain of our next step, but we can be certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves and our commonsense thinking to God and do the task He has placed right in front of us, He begins to fill our lives with blessing and surprises that we could never imagine. Blessings that far surpass any successes we’ll ever experience on the field of play.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
The spiritual life is the life of a child. We don’t have to be uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If the expectations of our future is based only in our beliefs and experiences, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, we become overly critical and we become limited by the view that our lives are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectations.
Leave everything to God and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come through for you – rest assured that you can be certain that He will come through for you. Remain faithful to Him.
23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
My Prayer
Father, though I see no clear path as I move into the next season of my life, help me to see the uncertainty of what’s next as an opportunity and not a burden. Each day help me to draw closer to you so that you might reveal your plans to me as my heart becomes prepared to receive them. Help me to see challenges and uncertainty as opportunities for you to shape my character and grow my reliance on you. Open my eyes to the daily things you want me to accomplish as I continue to seek you in prayer and trust your overall plan for my life.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Additional Readings:
Read 1 John 3
Read the 1 John Intro
Read Romans 5
Portions of this devotion were inspired by the daily devotions of My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. Learn more about Oswald Chambers and get his daily devotions at https://utmost.org/