Trusting God in Times of Uncertainty

Here’s a scenario you can probably relate to.

You’re going about your daily life when something unexpected and worrisome intrudes. Your routine medical checkup reveals something bad, your company announces layoffs, or the person you’re dating says he or she is rethinking the relationship because things have been rocky.

Anxiety grips you. Your insides feel hollowed out, and your mind scrambles for any small concession to make you feel less lost and more in control.

If I just knew a little more about what’s coming next, I could manage this, you tell yourself.

Clarity—it’s what we’re so often convinced we need to ease our anxiety. But is it always helpful?

Why it often doesn’t bring us peace

Of course, not every desire for clarity is bad. The clarity we want when we reach for a light switch, or when we study company policy to know what our employer expects of us, or when we ask questions in class—these are all good and productive.

But when life blindsides us hard—whether in our health, finances, relationships or an unanticipated difficulty or setback—and anxiety swells, the clarity we crave can become more like a desire for a divine blueprint. We reason that if we had just a kernel of our future, or the assurance of a specific revelation from God, we could face our problems head-on without fear or uncertainty.

The problem is, that kind of clarity wouldn’t necessarily give us what we’re looking for.

Remember Moses at the burning bush? God meets with him personally to share details about his mission and Israel’s future. For two whole chapters (Exodus 3-4), God lays out a step-by-step plan of what He’s going to accomplish through Moses, even performing on-the-spot miracles to help build his confidence.

But what happens? Moses still shrinks back. He sells himself short, makes excuses and begs God to send someone—anyone—else instead of him.

Even with every question answered, every concern addressed and every proof given, Moses’ anxiety still manages to creep in.

Faith isn’t built by having perfect foreknowledge. It’s forged on the training ground of uncertainty. And remember the Israelites on the brink of inheriting the Promised Land? Their exodus from Egypt had been backed by astounding miracles, like the parting of the Red Sea and God’s ongoing presence in the pillar of fire and cloud. At every point in their winding journey, they had a constant reminder that God was actively fulfilling His promises to them.

But what happens? A bad report of Canaan from 10 of the Israelite spies sends the camp into a tailspin (Numbers 13-14). Fear floods in. Anxiety takes hold—again.

We could go on and on. Elijah witnesses God’s power and revelation firsthand, but anxiety persists. Peter, despite being warned he will deny our Lord three times, still lets his fear take over.

What’s the point? Knowing the future doesn’t force us to take the right steps, and it doesn’t always bring the peace and comfort we expect. We crave clarity, but as these examples show, it often doesn’t deliver on its promises. And more than that, it distracts us from a more pressing Christian priority: faith.

It’s a matter of faith

The Bible tells us that by faith Moses and others were able to overcome their anxiety and fulfill the responsibilities God had given them (Hebrews 11).

Jesus obviously knows we will face challenges in our lives, yet He doesn’t tell us to pray for signs that will reveal all the specific details we might want to know about our future.

Instead, He calls on us to exercise faith.

Jesus says that even a small amount of faith can move mountains (Matthew 17:20). He commends those who demonstrate great faith (Matthew 8:10) and chides His disciples for their lack of faith (Mark 4:40). He rhetorically asks whether He will find faith when He returns (Luke 18:8) and urges people not to fear but to believe (Mark 5:36).

God wants us to grow in faith.

What does the Bible say about the cast of biblical heroes in Hebrew 11, the ones who are held up as examples and promised an eternal place in God’s family? Does it say they “obtained a good testimony” because they had everything figured out and could see exactly what was coming during every trial?

No, it says that they obtained a good testimony “through faith” (verse 39).

Because, as it turns out, faith isn’t built by having perfect foreknowledge. It’s forged on the training ground of uncertainty. It’s when we can’t see how a trial will work out that we’re pushed to trust the God who sees everything.

This is what Peter was getting at when he wrote about how valuable trials are in developing our faith:

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7; emphasis added throughout).

But let’s be clear: prioritizing faith doesn’t mean we get to sit back and do nothing. That’s worth noting, especially in a time when the phrase “let go and let God” has gained so much traction in people’s thinking.

Exercising faith means resisting the urge to let our anxious thoughts run wild and refusing to play the “what if” game. It means digging into the Bible to inform our minds of God’s promises and the stories that spotlight His faithfulness. It means sifting through Scripture for the right principles to apply in whatever situation we’re up against.

And it means praying our hearts out for the deliverance only God can bring.

As Paul wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

What faith looks like in practice

Jacob often gets remembered for his deceit (for example, Genesis 27:19), but his story is also filled with moments of growing faith. Just like us, he found himself stuck in a bind, desperately needing a way out.

At one point, Jacob received news that his brother Esau—perhaps still holding onto anger and bitterness over Jacob’s trickery—was on his way to meet him, and he wasn’t alone.

He was bringing four hundred men.

The Bible tells us, “So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed” (Genesis 32:7).

But notice what happened next: “Then Jacob said, ‘O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies.

“Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude’” (verses 9-12).

Consider his prayer. Consider how he clung to the promises God had given him. Consider his attempt at trust when everything felt up in the air.

Consider his faith.

God, of course, honored Jacob’s prayer, and in a twist of events, Esau showed up warm and friendly. No showdown, just open arms.

But that’s not the only important lesson here.

If Jacob had been able to see everything with crystal clarity, he wouldn’t have had any need to step out in faith—and without that, there wouldn’t have been any spiritual refining of his character.

It was in the not knowing, in the uncertainty, that his faith had room to grow.

He needed the struggle—and so do we.

A peace more secure than we can imagine

Life gets hectic, and none of us are strangers to that. But what we crave in the midst of our anxiety reveals a kernel of self-knowledge.

If we’re chasing the quick fix of signs and glimpses into our future, we may be setting ourselves up for disappointment and ignoring our spiritual priorities.

God does promise us peace of mind, but it’s not found in the places we’re so often inclined to look. The peace we are offered is the byproduct of trusting in the One who assures us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Hebrews 13:5; Romans 8:28).

Knowing the details of our future is overrated, but building faith is priceless.