Be Sure of This

Exciting news!! I have a new series starting on June 19th called “Summer of Prayer.” Each week will feature a new prayer, aimed at bringing hope to those who might need it most! Follow along by subscribing below :)

A phrase I see thrown around a lot right now is “uncertain times.”

As in, “these are uncertain times.”

And while I understand the sentiment—the fear, the shakiness, the seemingly unpredictable nature of the world at large—I often wonder, if these are uncertain times, when were they “certain?”

When did we know everything was going to be okay? When were we sure that everything was going to go as planned?

I think feelings of sureness fluctuate from person to person and can often remain mismatched. Just as good days and bad days, there are a lot of circumstances at play that allow for one person to feel at peace in a specific season and another to feel completely out of control.

And maybe I’m speaking from the perspective of someone who runs on a general sense of anxiety and fear of the unknown, but I can’t really remember a time when I felt “certain,” when I felt like nothing could go wrong or nothing was scary.

In fact, I think a big pillar of my faith can be attributed to this ever-present nervousness, as it has become the life raft I cling to, the one thing that helps me be less afraid.

And not by accident, either.

One of the most common commandments in the Bible is “do not be afraid” or “fear not.”

And each time I read it, it feels like taking a deep breath—like being a little kid remembering the advice given to me by a parent to calm my fears. Deeeeeep breath, God’s got this, I don’t have to be afraid.

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A while back, I read a quote from Oprah that the most important question she’s ever been asked is “what do you know for sure?”

And in uncertain times, I think this is an important question to ask ourselves. It’s a way to plant ourselves in the limited certainty we can find.

And for me, that’s faith.

Matthew 28:20 says, “Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Be sure of this.

When everything else is up in the air, when the world as I know it seems to be in question, when what’s good seems to be turning bad, when the answer to every question about the past, present, and future is “I have no idea”, it is crucial to have something we are sure of.

Something that we know for sure.

And this is a big one: I am with you.

It is the thing I cling to, the reason for that deeeeeeep breath, the only way for me to see past the fear, or to move forward in spite of it.

Be sure of this: I am with you.

Not sometimes, not for a limited time, but to the end of the age.

So at every turn, in every season, in every shifting of time and consequence, he is with us. And in this we can be sure.