Continuing to Hope in the Midst of Uncertainty
One look at my planner will show that I like to know what's going on. It may not be the most aesthetic planner you've ever seen, but it's full of highlighting, checklist and sticky notes. I am capable of being flexible. I'm always willing to change my plans when I need to, but I still need to feel as if I know what's going on. However, in light of the pandemic, like many others, I have no idea what's going to happen next.
Before everything took a huge turn, I had decided that it was time to change careers. As much as I love teaching, it's just not going to be a good fit for me financially or emotionally once my husband and I begin having children. I talked with the wife of one of my husband's friends who told me about her career. It sounded like a perfect fit for me. I'd get to work with children still, be able to leave work at work, and have a higher salary. I was sad at the idea of not being in the classroom any longer but excited to try something new.
By early February, I'd already been in touch with a company in my area and let my school administrators know about my plans so that they would have plenty of time to fill my position before the beginning of the next school year. Of course, there was no way to know that I'd given up a stable job just weeks before a massive change. For right now, things are fine for me. I am still teaching online as best I can, and I'm still getting paid throughout July. However, it seems much less certain that I'll be able to get a job in the field that I had planned to switch to. Maybe things will work out, but everything has been changing rapidly over the past weeks, so it's impossible to be sure.
Right now, for most people, it's impossible to be sure about anything.
The structures and safety nets that we had in place don't seem quite as stable they used to seem. In fact, the only thing we can rely on without question right now is our hope in God. Sure, as Christians we already knew that we were supposed to be trusting in God, but it was easy to maintain the illusion that we still had control. Now that illusion no longer exists. It's clear that the only way forward each day is to fully put our trust in the Lord.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." -Romans 15:13
Despite our circumstances, now or in the future, we have to remember that our hope comes from our God. The Bible is full of circumstances that seemed completely devoid of hope. When the Israelites were rescued out of Egypt, things seemed pretty hopeless for them after the initial escape. The Israelites probably had expectations for what their return to the Promised Land would look like, but they had no idea how difficult the journey would turn out to be.
No doubt people were excited when the Red Sea parted to allow them to leave. That's not exactly something you see every day, but then, they were in the desert for three days with no source of drinking water. In general, people can only survive without water for three days. This means that even if the Israelites managed to bring some water with them, they were probably beginning to get worried about their lack of water sources.
Exodus tells how the Israelites did find a place with water, but the water was not fit for consumption. According to the account, "the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'What are we to drink?'" Exodus 15:24. The people had just seen God part water three days ago, but their immediate physical needs were already causing their faith to waiver.
It would be easy to point out how weak it seems to waiver so quickly, but right now, a lot of us are probably in the stage where we might want to "grumble" just like the Israelites did. We know that God has provided for us in the past, but now that life has become unpredictable and uncertain, it's all too easy to lose hold of our hope.
When Moses cried out to God, God gave Moses instructions that allowed the water to become fit to drink, and the people had their immediate need provided for. This isn't where the story of the Exodus ends though. For 40 more years, the Israelites continued to wander through the desert with God providing for their needs. Every single time that some new difficulty arose, the Israelites seemed to forget how God had provided for them in the past, but every single time that they cried out to God, God provided for them once again.
One of my favorite parts of this part of the Bible is how many times the Israelites begin to doubt, but God never abandoned them because of their doubt. Knowing that they witnessed so many obvious miracles, but still struggled to trust in God is oddly comforting because we do the exact thing. Even though we may momentarily complain to God or question how He seems to have derailed all the plans we had for how things were supposed to happen, God isn't going to abandon us either.
Just like the Israelites, we are in a situation where we have little control over what happens next, so we are going to have to rely on God to provide for us when each difficulty arises. We may not get the exact response that we expect. We will never be left alone though. Just like the Israelites, we are going to lose hope sometimes. We’re going to wonder why things aren’t happening the way that we had planned for them to happen, but when we cry out to God, he is going to be there. How are you going to find hope/place your trust in God in this season?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth is an educator at heart. So far this has taken the form of a camp counselor, a museum assistant, and currently a middle school teacher. She loves to watch people grow and learn. You can read more of her writing at her blog Chronicles of a Southern Belle.