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| Uncertainty Ahead Katie Moum - Uplash |
Life has always been uncertain
- it's just we're more aware of it now
Uncertainty is the new norm, or so we are told, since we no longer know what lies ahead.
The implication is that in the past we did know what lay ahead. But has that ever been true? When have we, mere mortals, ever known the future?
One of the reasons Christians of the past used to write the initials DV ("Deo Volente" - if God wills), in big print right across all their plans, was precisely because we do not - in point of fact - know the future.
Just because the things we planned in the past did often come to pass does not mean we knew the future - because anything can scupper human plans. Even something as small as a virus that cannot be seen with human eyes.
Our present crisis has not created future uncertainty. Instead it has, for the believer, merely highlighted what we have known all along: "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow." (James 4:14)
This present uncertainty is surely then a good thing, for it has reminded us all that God alone knows the future and encouraged us to refresh our trust in him.
We do not need to worry about tomorrow.
I do not know what lies ahead,
The way I cannot see,
But one stands near to be my guide,
He'll show the way to me.
We all need a grander vision of our majestic God who "sits enthroned above the circle of the earth" and has our future in his loving and powerful hands!
Let's enlarge our vision of God with a few more verses from Isaiah 40:22-24
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
Today, we meditate on two aspects of God's Majesty:
God so so easily Created Space
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
This, of course, is pure poetry. We are not being asked to compare any scientific explanation with this poetical description of how God made the universe. (I have heard someone liken this stretching out to the expanding universe, but I don't believe we are called to make such comparisons.)
Instead we're meant to feel the awesome power of a God who can stretch out the vast expanses of space in the same way we might set up our tent on a camping trip!
Creating the heavens, for God, is as easy as unfolding a canvas wigwam in our back garden!
God fully controls all leaders
He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
God is in full control of world leaders: this is Isaiah's second example of divine power. Think about plants which have taken root in a field. Along comes God and blows on them causing them to wither, or he sends a whirlwind to sweep them away like chaff, the waste product of a seed crop.
Rulers come, and rulers go.
Margaret Thatcher, Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Theresa May, Fidel Castro, Robert Mugabe, Saddam Hussein, Boris Yeltsin......
And it is God, says Isaiah, who removes them from the world scene.
Soon Boris Johnson will be gone, and so will Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel, and all will leave the world stage - here is the point - at the command of our Sovereign God.
Our faith and trust is in proportion to the God we worship. A little God, limited in power and glory, commands little faith. But a God, great in power and glory, deserves great faith.
Whatever troubles we may be passing through, let us allow God's Word to expand our vision of God, and let us ask His Spirit to increase our feeble trust in him so that we do not fear.
A SONG FOR THE DAY
It may be old, but the words are wonderful. The author encourages us to praise and to trust the God that Abraham, that giant, yet so human, man of faith, trusted all his earthly days.
The God of Abraham praise,
who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of Everlasting Days,
and God of Love;
Jehovah, great I AM!
by earth and heaven confessed;
I bow and bless the sacred name
forever blest.
The God of Abraham Praise
at whose supreme command
from death we rise to gain the joys
at his right hand:
I all on earth forsake
its wisdom, fame, and power;
and Him my only portion make,
our shield and tower.
He by himself has sworn;
I on this oath depend.
I shall, on eagle wings upborne,
to heaven ascend.
I shall behold God's face;
I shall God's power adore,
and sing the wonders of his grace
forevermore.
The whole triumphant host
Give thanks to God on high
Hail, Father, Son and Holy Ghost
They ever cry
Hail Abraham's God and mine
I join the heavenly lays
All might and majesty are Thine
And endless praise!
The God who reigns on high
the great archangels sing,
and "Holy, holy, holy!" cry
"Almighty King!
Who was, and is, the same,
and evermore shall be:
Jehovah, Lord, the great I AM,
we worship thee!"
T Olivers
You can sing along HERE.
A PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Our great and Majestic God in heaven,
We thank you that in this changing world, filled with human uncertainties, we are not on our own. We thank you that we know a little of your great power.
You are the one who stretched out the heavens like we unfold a tent!
You are the one who decides who leads the nations of the world, and when those leaders must leave the world stage.
How great is your power and authority!
Teach us, O God of Abraham, to trust you more and more each day, and help us not to be anxious about tomorrow.
For we ask these things in the Mighty Name of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord,
Amen.
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