Dealing with Uncertainty (Part 2)
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The Life of Abraham: Living Out God’s Story | Certainty in Uncertainty
Bible Reference: Genesis 15:1-21
Big idea: God’s Word teaches us how to deal with uncertainty.
How do we deal with our uncertainties?
We allow God to work through our Uncertainties by:
#1 Learning to bring our Issues to God
Gen 15:2-8
God appears to Abram first, but we find that Abram was the one who brought up the issues that bothered him first.
He did not pretend that everything was all right, but he brought God the concerns that he had. Abram does not hide his uncertainties from God, he brings them to Him.
Prayer is the method in which we learn to bring our issues to God and listen from Him.
Even though God already knows our thoughts, sometimes God does not do something for us until we talk to Him about it. This is so that we will learn to develop a culture of gratitude and relationship with Him. We talk to our Heavenly Father to unburden ourselves and let God give us His perspective about what is happening in our lives.
#2 Learning to Wait for God’s Response
Through His Word
The primary way God speaks to us is through His Word. It’s common happenstance that when you are reading the bible, the Holy Spirit highlights a particular passage that ministers exactly to your situation. Often when we find a Christian who is chronically filled with uncertainty, we also find a Christian that is not committed to reading God’s word for himself. Just spending a few minutes a day will help us gain assurance in our journey with God.
Through His Church
Church is a people in any place that provides us an opportunity to hear God’s voice – whether it is through a sermon, worship, prayer or other spiritual giftings. God speaks to us through His beloved Church as we gather in Jesus’ name.
Through His Providence
Our God is sovereign and He will arrange circumstances of your life to speak specifically to you. It could be a random Youtube or Instagram video, a coincidental throwback text, a movie or a song - basically anything! If you have talked to God over an issue, expect Him to show up in all areas of your life.
Through His Spirit
God gives us His Holy Spirit to be with us forever. There are many different kinds of ways that God’s Spirit speaks to us, but here are some of them:
Dreams
Visions
Inner voice
Audible voice
#3 Learning to Trust God
Gen 15:9-21
God made a promise to Abram and basically said that He will fulfill His promises to Abram “over His dead body”. He made a very serious commitment and vow to Abram. As Abram discovers more about God in his faith journey, he is becoming more certain about God in these 4 aspects:
He trusts God’s knowledge
Gen 15:13
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed."
God tells Abraham exactly what would happen to his descendants hundreds of years later.Everything God said took place in the book of Exodus exactly as God said. Abraham is learning God doesn't just know all that has happened , or all that is happening...but God also knows all that will happen.
This is the same God that we worship and love. We have certainty in Jesus because He knows all things, and nothing catches Him by surprise.
He trusts God’s Power
Gen 15:14
However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions.
God tells Abraham that even though his descendants will be oppressed for a time, God will rescue them and overthrow the enemy nation and in fact use the enemy nation to bless his descendants with many possessions.
Abraham is learning that God is supremely powerful.
We can have certainty in Christ because God all powerful- there is absolutely nothing He cannot do and no one who can stand in His way. The more we understand how powerful He is, the more we can be certain of Him.
He trusts God’s Purposes
Gen 15:15-16
"But you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
If it was up to Abram, we are sure he would want his children and his land immediately. However, Abram is realizing that God’s purposes are beyond himself, that God is waiting for the wickedness of the enemy to reach its full measure so that He can use Abram’s descendants to deal with the Amorites.
We can trust that sometimes we might not get everything we want, the way we want it, when we want it, but God’s purposes will always prevail. Nothing can stop God’s purposes for your life as you trust Him.
He trusts God’s character
Gen 15:17-18
When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring...
God, in a symbolic ritual, told Abram, “may I be as dead as these animals if I do not keep my promise to you”. A few thousand years later we see Jesus dying on a cross, laying down His life for us in obedience to the Father so that all of us may have eternal life and be part of His eternal kingdom forever, of which Abram is a part of. God is committed to keeping His promises to you. You can trust in His integrity and faithfulness to you.
Dealing with uncertainties is a lesson for everyone in Christ.
May you be encouraged to seek God, listen to Him and trust Him in through your uncertainties.