Guarantied Uncertainty
11-28-10
It has been said, “Certainty is the mother of quiet repose, and uncertainty the cause of variance and contentions.”
- This week I received an add to purchase 1 year of dried food… that is living life in uncertainty.
With everything happening in the world – I thought it wise to talk about sentiment commonly found in the hearts of those when perspective is lost… uncertainty.
Joshua chapter 3
The spies had just returned with a favorable report about the “Promised land” and the conquest of Canaan was afoot.
Joshua was a man of action and while he
didn’t know “how” the 2 million people would get across the Jordan – he brought them to the river bank and waited 3 days. The lesson; being uncertain is no excuse to not position yourself in proximity of a promise.
So there they camp waiting for the revelation of how they would get across. It is in these moments of waiting that we begin to help God out with our plan. Sure we are confident that God has spoken clearly but what's the harm in
expediting the process of breakthrough? The lesson; easy immediate answers produce shallow convictions.
To intensify the circumstance – the melting snow off Mt Hermon caused the Jordan to be at flood stage. So Joshua receives the plan from God and then approaches the priests to tell them this, “Alright here is the plan… ‘When you come to the brink of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.” It's important to notice that God did not say that the waters would stand still – That was Joshua’s certainty in the LORD’s word to him “As I was with Moses so I will be with you.” However, you need to recall what God did for Moses and ‘crossing a body of water.’ The difference is that with Moses they could see the path before they embarked into the water, Joshua did not have that but he did have a frame of reference. Lesson; God has given us a frame of reference and asks that we apply FAITH to what he has revealed.
On a side note; how many of you know you’d like to be one of the priests in the back? In addition, how certain would you be that the priests could carry the ark for 2 days straight (2 million people crossing took a while).
So the priests step into the water and the water stops flowing. The people cross over. 12 men take 12 stones to build a memorial of this occurrence.
We think… “Oh – that’s easy – I would have done that… no problem.” Because we have a “hindsight bias” we read the story and think the outcome is inevitable. "Hindsight bias" is like watching a sporting event that you have recorded but already know the final score. There is no wonder, the result has already been provided. "Hindsight bias" is the difference between a weatherman and a sports reporter.
In preparing this lesson I found it difficult to find a scripture that speaks specifically to “uncertainty". I soon came to realize the reason I was having difficulty is because there is no Hebrew word that means “uncertain”. In addition, the Greek word is not written in the New Testament either. Lesson; the word uncertain does not appear in the bible. So while I have offered Joshua 3 as an example it is supposition.
Uncertainty is “wrong certainty identified”. When I attempt to apply faith to anything accept God and His word. In the world you perform to become certain, in the Kingdom of God you are certain that is why you perform. Whenever I am uncertain it should tell me that I have directed my attention to something besides God. Uncertainty is like the “John the Baptist” of the demonic realm – it’s a precursor to unrighteous behavior.
- "I'm uncertain that 'they' are the right person for me to marry, so I'll have sex with them to see if we are compatible."
- "I'm uncertain that I will have enough money for bills this month, so I'm not going to give my tithe to the church until I figure that out."
The Christian life does not ask that we live in the tension of uncertainty and confidence. It asks that we live in the tension of RISK and ASSURANCE.
- Risk is the integers of circumstance.
- Confidence is the sum of what God will provide.
The bible tells us that God provides the 'sum' to our life; Psalm 119:160 – “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.”
Because of the tension that occurs between what we see and what God says it is not unusual to position ourselves in an environment where we have self-reliance. We tend to move in the direction of where we are familiar and comfortable with the amount of risk assumed.
HERE IS THE PROBLEM:
Since “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen?” (Heb 11:1). If I can ‘see myself being successful – without divine intervention’ I have not embarked into ‘faith’. If I am confident in my ability for what I consider success I have just removed God from the equation. Or even worse I have denied God’s call to take risk based on my outlook of who I ‘think I am’.
I know different people have different callings. Here is one thing I also know; If you do not embrace risk you are not living by faith. Regardless of our call it is necessary to do something that is counter intuitive if you want to reach your God given potential and fulfill your destiny. Think about it, stepping into a flooded river with a box that weighs 100’s of pounds is counter intuitive. Walking your family across a river bed is counter intuitive. But what is the difference between leading your family across the Jordan River bed and trusting in a God that you have never seen?
Understanding a promise of God has never been a prerequisite to it being fulfilled.
But we are not without guidance.
Hebrews 1:1 – “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…”
God designed each of us to embark into the realm of faith through the door not marked with uncertainty RATHER through the door marked “RISK”.
As with most principals in the kingdom – “FAITH” in this case. Satan offers a counterfeit. Millions of dollars are spent each year to one of the 7 princes of hell “
Asmodeus” who is the spirit of gambling (uncertainty).
Situational uncertainty creates an atmosphere that can lead to fear and inaction if not held in check by faith.
- Faith does not reduce uncertainty – faith embraces RISK.
- Faith does not allow us to gain knowledge – it allows us to accept wonder.
Risk positions us for divine encounter – if we are willing to step into the water – and stay there. Inaction (not taking a risk) allows the very thing we are uncertain of to occur – while it my not be reality – for all practical purposes it may have well been. In truth we never take a risk if we follow the LORD’S direction for our lives:
Matthew 19:28 - by following the LORD we "… will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life”
It's the saying, "No one ever bet too much on a winning horse…”
Uncertainty stems from my desire to control and order my steps.
- Life is not about perfect orderly occurrences.
- Life is not intended to be controlled to suit our desires.
- How do I know…
YOUR ARE A STONE AND NOT A BRICK:
Because we are “as living stones, being built up as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to god through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5) each of our roles has value.
we are not bricks… we are not interchangeable… bricks are the ‘same’.. bricks have ‘order’ and can be placed in any position in a structure… stones must be placed in a particular position as seen by the master architect. If I deny taking RISK into the call on my life from God, since we are not bricks, there is no one else to fit into my position. In addition, since we are stones and must be placed in a specific location – I cannot inset myself into where I think I should fit.
Throughout scripture bricks are used to describe difficulty (the Israelites made bricks for pharaoh), and a way to describe a “godless structure” – look at what we have built.
Now think about stones – God always asked that alters for sacrifice be made out of stone. Any monument to the LORD was made out of stone.
Our purpose in being built up into a spiritual house is to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. The question therefore is – what sacrifices are acceptable to God?Sacrifices are offerings of thanks to God. It is the priests duty to keep the sacrifices on the alter – god provides the fire, we provide the sacrifice of thanks.
Thankfulness transforms something that is natural into the realm of the supernatural.
Thankfulness in the face of RISK removes uncertainty and places it in the hands of the Father. Instead of being ‘uncertain’ – Jesus gave thanks for the loves and fish. He did not regard the lack, but instead took a RISK and offered thanks for what he had, attracted the presence of God, and there was provision. It is common to regard what we don’t have and by doing so we stop placing a sacrifice of thanks on the alter and the fire goes out.
To be secure – it is necessary to establish a posture of thankfulness in all circumstances, (including taking RISK) realizing that this is the will of god for your life.
Security comes from the process of discipline and development – those are only possible if I approach my role with a grateful heart
