The Problem of Uncertainty

Problems, we all have them. Although, they may be a daily struggle on how we are capable of formulating an answer to problem or how we are to simply deal with them. How are we to deal with the feelings of uncertainty so that we may regain the feeling of knowing and being very certain with our faith, calling, and life? This was raised in a sermon I had heard during a traditional church service I attended yesterday morning and this subject really made its own mark on my heart because it hit home. Now when I say it hit home, I am not talking about my faith. I am certain of my faith, but as to my calling I have begun to experience a whole entire semester of uncertainty as to what my calling may be. It's often that we will experience these feelings at some point in our life time, it's just even more common during the stage of the college time. During our time here on Earth, God has certainly called us as His chosen people and has called us for a purpose. We can have certainty in believing so by our references: 6 "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession." Deuteronomy 7:6 16 "But I have raised you up[a] for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Exodus 9:16 9 "I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you." Isaiah 41:9 We have certainty in knowing that we are chosen and called to serve God. God leads His people and will direct all of His children according to His plan as to how He wants His children to live and serve Him. I firmly believe that is so, but I am unsure as to where and what I should be doing. I guess that's apart of just giving it all to Him even more so and saying, "Okay, God, I know that I really can't do this alone. I haven't a clue as to how I can just serve You." Yet, I know that we are called to go out and make disciples of the nations...we are disciples called to reach out to others and share of God's great love for us, by the sharing of the Gospel. 19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" Matthew 28:19 Sometimes, I question just how God will use me to do so and how He will use my talents to glorify Him and bring people to Him. Yet, how He does it, is what amazes me because I am so unsure as to how He may be using me to reach out to others. Although, I have an idea that He is using me and my talents of writing and art to glorify Him by having me share my faith, thoughts, and what I know to be true of Him to bring glory and share Him with you. What bothers me, I guess is that my education is messed up in a sense and I am unsure as to where my calling is..like where I should be and what my career path consists of. I know that I love sharing the Gospel, working and volunteering with the church, working with youth by sharing the love of Christ, and teaching them about Jesus Christ, how they are to live their lives in the Faith... I love making art and writing. I love working on computers and all of that. If anything that makes me happy, is sharing the love of Christ with people and using my talents to glorify God, seeing the results and just...getting that feeling in knowing I've changed a life by bringing them closer to Christ and how they're able to open up their hearts to not just me and others about their lives and faith, but to God. I love being able to pray and serve God, the church, and others. I love doing things for others, it makes me so happy to know that I can make a difference. I want to make a difference in lives that can be touched by God. How? I don't know, but I want nothing more for others to know how much God loves them and that there is life in Him. Yet, I want to them to realize the realism behind life. Life isn't meant to be easy and to be a Christian is no way any easier, but to live without faith means you have nothing at all. To have faith means You have what matters and that is God, who is the very meaning and word, Love. God is Love. Yet, with my faith and how I love I am no way uncertain with it, rather, I am very certain and know that God loves and is the one God who has called me to share this. Friends, these are the four essential truths that offer certainty: (This is from my outline from the Church sermon. I have felt called to share this) 1) Eternal life is real life. "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:13 2)Life- Real Life- is found in Jesus. "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 John 5:12 3) If you have the Son, you have life. "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name." John 20:31 4) The journey of the believer begins with hearing and then believing and then living. "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32 "We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true, even in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life." 1 John 5: 18-20 We live in a culture that is filled of uncertainty, but we, as God's people are able to live in certainty of our knowledge of what Christ has done for us, by dying for our sins so that we may have an eternal life. This eternal life being life of the ages...God's love is steadfast and never-ending. It goes on beyond all of the ages and generations. Despite being uncertain with His plans despite He has promised that His love will be pouring down upon us and that His plans are to prosper and give us hope for a future and not to harm us, we can live in certainty by His word. His Word gives us comfort in knowing we can be certain with our future, because it consists of His plan, the plan that is full of love and so much of Him. By knowing that we have life in Him, this form of certainty and comfort defeats the problem of uncertainty. Praying that this form of certainty defeats your uncertainty, even if you're a college student like me who feels unsure in some cases, but still is holding onto God's promises. If you're not a college student and still can relate, hold on to His promises. His promises are richer than anything of this world and last. Press on and stand firm friends. Prayers and Love, Makaya

Steadfast Faith

22 "If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him—" Deuteronomy 11:22 Greetings, I hope that everyone is well and that times are full of persevering. This, I hope for you so that your faith is steadfast and not ceasing. I am writing to you in the matters of not only the share of my faith and its trials, hardships, and lessons learned, but the matter of making sure that you are able to learn from my writing and what is contains. As of recent, there has been this series of trial, hardship, and lessons that have really caused me to question as to why it may be occurring at this time in not only my life, but the lives of those around me and seeing how it is affecting them, too. Besides that, I've been analyzing my own faith and how it is is being steadfast during the times that make me either question or almost want to doubt. But I do not go into doubt because I have the certainty of the promises from a Savior and that's what keeps me looking to God for guidance. It's kind of funny how everything has just been really playing itself out. I say this because so much difficulty is happening. I am going to share with you what's been going on and how I'm trying to keep not only my eyes on Jesus, but attempting to influence my family to do so as well. Although, it is the works of me who will cause my family to look to God, rather, it is the work of the Spirit. 1) Education: School really screwed me over in a sense that I will have to transfer again and that really has me bothered. I question as to why my education has been so difficult for me to maintain and be in this constant vernacular, but what can I do? Nothing. I can do nothing to change this, but to hope that a plan will be revealed to me in time of what God would want me to do about it. Yet, that is a struggle of mine in my faith because I am the type to be analytic, logical, plan-oriented (not all of the time, but I like to be), organized, realistic, idealistic, and innovative. I enjoy having an idea of what is to come close down the road in the future, but that raises the question in my faith...How do you know what will be happening then, when you aren't sure as to what you're going to do or what will happen in a few seconds, minutes, later in the day, night, next day, etc. You can try to plan all of you want, but ultimately one will never know because they aren't capable of playing out the plans God has for them. Solution: Trust in God with all of your heart and pray for a steadfast faith, holding onto Him. Do so because trusting in God shows that you are trusting in His plans for your future. He is to further and give you hope, not to harm you. How do you have faith, besides believing, when you can't trust in Him? He wants you to trust Him. He like a friend who is waiting for that friend to rely on Him for anything and everything. He is faithful. 2) Finances: Money and finances alone is an issue for everyone it seems and causes us to feel unsure as to what or how God is providing for our lives. Lately, I feel that finances has caused my family's faith to be in a bind because we are struggling immensely. Rent, bills, and even to have food on the table, everything together is a struggle. Rent and some bills left unpaid and paid in small increments (rent that is), and bills turning in late. Yet, my mother feels it has only worsened ever since today's earlier event. After work, my mother had gone to the bank and there, the vehicle broke down. Then, to only learn that our money is in the negatives due to some unfortunate matters. To get that back on track, only way to fix it is by giving in the next pay on Thursday to only exchange it, it seems. Therefore, for a month we will go without money to pay for rent, rest of the bills, and food. Tough, yes. ( I am not explaining the situation to go for some pity party or anything, I'm using this to explain...just saying) My mother is losing hope and has questioned, "Why does this happen to me? I hate this. I am so sick and tired. I am tired of living not even pay to pay. I am tired of living this way. I can't do anything right." To hear this from my own mom makes me really...not so much feel horrible, but my heart breaks for her because I can't really do much to help her and the situation. I've shared my hope and told her, "Don't worry, Mom. This isn't the worst that could happen. We have each other and that is so much more. Everything will be alright. Just another rough spot to press on through." Frankly, I am hopeful and can be optimistic, but I am highly a realist. Therefore, for me to say such isn't so much realistic for the most part, but it's a matter of keeping hopeful for the unknown. I trust that God will provide for us because He has done so and continues to do so for us despite it isn't every little awesome thing out there. But through this, we are able to realize that to have things taken care of, food, and possessions aren't anything to us, they're not ours, they're Jesus's. God will help provide for all that we struggle with and comfort us because He has promised to do so. We are to look to God in these situations even. These situations are large ones that tend to take our focus away from God, what He has promised, His ways, and what He is planting in us because we live in a sinful world, but when we return to Christ, we realize that God is greater, His love runs deep, long, and wide, and that nothing else matters. What He provides is not of this world and is not of the Earthly matter because it runs deeper and it is RICH. Despite the hardship of on the verge of being very financially unstable, WE ARE RICH. Yes, I said that. We are RICH. We are rich in love, kindness, perseverance, and faith. We, as humans will naturally question the hard times, but when those questioning moments pass, we always return to God with certainty because of His promises and steadfast love He has displayed towards us and continues to do so. Conclusion to all of this, To have a steadfast faith isn't a matter of just trusting in God alone, but it is hearing, believing, and living your faith loud despite all of the ways of this world that may distract you from God and what He has told you to trust in and let Him worry about, opposed to you worrying your life away. We are so much more to Him than things of this world and we forget often that our relationships with God are so much more than what we face in our lives, that being consisted of work, finances, educational issues, relationships, etc. God has got this and has taught us to hold fast to Him because these times of trial and hardship do not last, but what does last is the eternal life we are promised through His Son, Jesus Christ. Through the blood of the lamb, we are saved and promised an eternal life. This eternal life meaning to be of the ages. Eternal life lasts age after age. Our steadfast faith is to last through the ages, just as His love for us has. His love is steadfast and strong, He never let's go. Press on and keep steadfast in the love, promises, and faith that you have. God isn't going anywhere, therefore, no fear, He is here and alive. I am praying that we as disciples in the world will look to God and help others to look to Him in the times of confusion, hardship, and trial so that we do not let go of the faith we have in Him. <3 Mak