I like certainty. I want to know that I am making the right decision. I want the cure for the disease to work perfectly with no side effects. Certainty vs faith challenges my sense of security.
I know I am not alone in this. I want to know that I know that I know. The truth is there are very few things I can be certain about. I am certain, today, in this moment, that I have a job. I am certain, today, in this moment, that my family is healthy. I am certain today, in this moment, that I believe in God and that Jesus died for me.
The reality is that other than what I am certain of in this moment, everything else requires faith. Faith is hard. It requires vulnerability and the possibility of being wrong.
I was recently challenged to examine the box I put God in. What limits do I put on God? Am I certain about who He loves and how He loves? Scripture is an important guide to understanding God. What are the gaps in my understanding? I had to acknowledge that putting limits on an infinite God is arrogance on my part. It’s me putting myself at God’s level. It’s me assuming certainty. God calls me to faith, and faith flies in the face of certainty.
1-2 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.3 By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see. (Hebrews 11:1-3 MSG).
Certainty vs faith, I choose faith. Okay, I want to choose faith, but recognize I need to reexamine areas that I assume I can be certain. It is hard. It calls me to stay open in areas where I want a concrete answers. It calls me to be open to a God who is much bigger and more capable than I can imagine. It is is the God I love and hold on tightly to in my darkest moments. In those moments, I need a big God who can do what my heart needs rather than I my mind is certain of.
Certainty vs faith, what do you choose? Is it an easy choice? Do you lean toward certainty too? Share your experience here and breathe life and bring hope to others.