The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. (Genesis 12:1)

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. (Hebrews 11:8)

It feels like our world is ruled by uncertainty right now.  Does anyone truly know what’s going on? Every morning when I look through my Apple News feed, listen to NPR or tune into Fox 29 at night, I hear conflicting reports and the answers keep changing….

• So, what is the distance we need to separate from each other? It started out as 3 feet, moved to 6 and I read in the New York Times today that it’s actually something like 10.
• When will the social distancing order be lifted? In time for Easter? The end of April, mid-May, June, July? The line keeps moving.
• Exactly how long does the virus remain airborne, or live on non-porous surfaces? And how long will it take for an effective vaccine to be developed?
• How many stimulus packages will there be, who qualifies and when do the first payments go out?
• Will the stock market recover, what about the airlines, mom & pop restaurants and small businesses?
• And… when this is all “over” what will our new normal be?

That’s a lot of uncertainty and you could no doubt add on your own list of personal unknowns.

Now, I’m not saying this to complain.  I think everyone is doing the best they can and I’m incredibly grateful for our leaders who are serving under very difficult circumstances. I pray for them most every day. My point isn’t that we should know more or that communication should improve, although in some cases, I’m sure this is true… My point is, that for many of these questions, we just don’t have the answers.

We Americans are not okay with not knowing.  Our 24/7 news cycle and instant access to information has conditioned us to expect to know the answers NOW. I get so tired of interviews with so-called experts and authorities in which they blow smoke.  It’s clear they don’t know or in many instances have been asked an unanswerable question, but they drone on and one… blah, blah, blah.  Just say it.  “We don’t know. We don’t know. WE DON’T KNOW!”

How do we live faithfully in uncertain times?

This got me thinking about Abraham. I’m trying to put myself in Abraham’s shoes after God told him to leave for Canaan but told him literally nothing about it (see verses above).

Where you headed, Abraham?  “Don’t know.”

How long will it take you? “Not sure.”

What will you find when you get there? “Can’t rightly tell.”

You’ve got a lot of flocks and herds.  Think they’ll be alright? “Hope so.”

On and on that line of questioning could go, but Abraham’s answer would still be the same- I don’t know. And yet, the Bible is clear.  “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3). Abraham didn’t have to know the answer to all of his questions in advance.  He just had to trust God.

A couple of months ago, our lead elder at Bethany, Jonathan Myer shared a devotional thought on this.  He reflected on Abraham’s walk into the unknown and how God has also called his church to walk by faith. He reminded us all that when we look back, we discover that God has always been faithful.  I thought about that a lot and wrote it down in my journal. What he said seems particularly relevant today.

The future on planet earth has never been more uncertain.  So, how should we live?

Well, we can obsess over all of the unknowns.  We can worry about all of the things that could happen or are happening that are beyond our control.  Or we can rest in the care of our heavenly father who has a perfect track record of faithfulness.

Read Jesus’ comforting, yet challenging words in Matthew 5:

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I don’t know whether I or a loved one will get COVID-19 and I don’t know what the “new normal” will look like on the other side or how long it will take to get there.  But I do know that for today and every day moving forward, God will still be God.  The church will still be his church. I will still be his beloved child.  He will still be faithful to his promises. God’s kingdom will continue to advance. I have an ongoing role to play (and so do you). And ultimately we will spend eternity with the One who loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3), is currently preparing a place for us (John 14:2) and when we get there, will wipe every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:4).

Maybe I should just stick with what I know.