How to Make Peace With Uncertainty

Last month, I sat down to watch Survivor for the first time. The show is in its forty-second season, so the answer to your question is yes, apparently I have been living under a rock.

The tagline of the show is “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast,” and the whole premise of the game is built on uncertainty.

The players aren’t certain when they’ll have an opportunity to eat a full meal. They aren’t certain whether they can trust the person next to them. They don’t know if their physical bodies will cooperate in the challenges that test strength, endurance, and skill.

Watching the show, I noticed different responses to the stress of uncertainty.

Some players became emotional, erupting in tears or bouts of anger. Others found ways to soothe themselves and remain focused. Some grasped for power and control while others sat back hoping to stay out of the fray.

It had me wondering—how would I respond in the face of all that uncertainty?

Survivor brings the element of uncertainty to the forefront, but the truth is that we all live with it every single day.

Uncertainty becomes more apparent in our lives when we make a big move to a different city, face a life-changing decision, or receive a medical diagnosis. But uncertainty is also woven into everyday life.

How do we find peace when the future feels unpredictable?

1. Rewrite the Story You’re Telling Yourself

Last week my husband walked into one of the bathrooms in our house and flipped on the light switch. At that exact moment, I pressed the button on our garage door opener. He heard the garage door going up, and for a split second his brain was tricked into thinking that he had somehow made the door open with the flick of a light switch.

We can begin to buy into a similar illusion—that we are more in control of our lives than we really are.

The truth is that “the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

I’m making the problem worse, I realize. To make peace with uncertainty, we first need to understand just how uncertain our plans and futures truly are.

God determines our steps and remains in control of all things. Peace of mind comes from knowing we can trust the One who knows all, sees all, and loves us all.

When we relinquish control and acknowledge our inability to dictate the future, we lean heavier into our dependence on God.

In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 4:8

It’s easy to buy into the cultural ideas around us—”you are in control of your own life” or “If you… believe it is possible, you will have unlimited power to achieve the impossible.”¹ They sound so good to our ears! The trouble is that these attitudes ignore God’s role in our lives and the world.

Wishful thinking is ineffective when we are working at odds with the plans of God.

Rewrite the story you’re telling yourself. Uncertainty isn’t banished with a try-harder, do-better attitude. But we can make peace with it by trusting in the God whose wisdom and knowledge certainly surpasses our own.

2. Make a List of What You Know to Be Certain

In a sea of uncertainty, God hasn’t left us without an anchor. We can be certain of his unchanging character and the promises he makes to his children.

Here are three verses that remind me of the rock-solid truths we can stand on.

1) The Love of God

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

2) He is Working for Our Good

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

3) Eternal Life

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

1 John 5:13

These are just a few, but the Bible is filled with truths about who God is and what he says he will do. Try making a list of verses that speak to the things you can know for certain in the circumstances you’re facing.

3. Imagine a World Without Uncertainty

When my life feels uncertain, it’s tempting to focus all my energy and attention on the cause—a job application, a decision about my son’s school, or a pandemic. It’s in those moments that God wants me to trust and depend on him.

Yesterday I was reading about King Asa of Judah. If ever anyone struggled with the reality of uncertainty, the Old Testament kings surely did. Betrayal, war, and famine were constant threats, but “Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life'” (2 Chronicles 15:17).

On the brink of battle (one that looked impossible to win) Asa prayed, “‘LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army” (2 Chronicles 14:11).

Can you imagine if we lived in a world with no uncertainty? How would we learn to trust God?

Adam and Eve, sinless before the fall, trusted God completely because sin had not yet slipped in to ruin their perfect dependence. Living in our fallen world with hearts bent towards self-reliance, uncertainty is a gift and an opportunity. We can choose to see the uncertainty that we face with a posture of faith and trust in God regardless of the outcome.

"Living in our fallen world with hearts bent towards self-reliance, uncertainty is a gift and an opportunity to build our faith in God." Share on X

Linger Longer

Think about a time in your life (maybe it’s now!) when uncertainty threatened to steal your peace. Are you trusting God’s plan and surrendering to his will?

*Featured photo by Maike und Björn Bröskamp from Pixabay

¹quote by Germany Kent