Gracious Uncertainty by Jon Walker (Posted by Mia Swanepoel on Facebook)

Gracious Uncertainty by Jon Walker
Posted by Mia Swanepoel on Facebook

January 17, 2010

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3 (NIV)
This guest devotional is from Jon Walker, author of "Growing with Purpose."

When my oldest son first started playing baseball, he was still relatively young and not used to a life lived around clocks and calendars. So it wasn't uncommon for him to ask, "Is my game today?" "How many days until Saturday?"

Jesus says this childlike nature is necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven. My son wasn't questioning if something would happen; it was a given that it would. Instead, he was dependent upon my wife or me to tell him when it would happen.

Oswald Chambers, in My Utmost for His Highest, writes "The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty." He describes this as "gracious uncertainty," where "we are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God." I would add we can be certain of God's grace while being graciously uncertain of the future details of our lives.

With gracious uncertainty, we can be confident in our expectations, knowing our hope in the Lord will not disappoint (Romans 5:5). With gracious uncertainty, we can release the things we have no responsibility for, yet worry about anyway.

My son can be certain I will get him to the ball game, but he need not be concerned about the gas required, the directions there, or even to drive. He can just enjoy being a child and simply live in each moment, trusting I've got a handle on the details and I'll let him know when it's time to go.

If only we all had such faith, no longer requiring God to submit to our clocks and calendars. Our objective-in-Jesus is to grow confident each day that our heavenly Father will come through at just the right time in just the right way.