Disasters capture
our national attention. News outlets document disaster accounts in graphic
detail and people seem to soak up the despair and hopelessness that they
portray. Recently people focused upon the March 8, 2014, disappearance of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with 239 people aboard. A short time later, March
22, 2014, the nation’s attention was transported from the vastness of the
Indian Ocean to the state of Washington where a massive landslide tore through
a community, to date killing 17 and leaving 90 missing. I suppose disasters,
whether they are labeled natural or man-made, cause us to see life as it really
is – dangerous, uncertain, and most unsettlingly, beyond our control. When we
hear of these accounts our minds naturally register a question, “Exactly how
safe are we and can we even expect to be?” Most people do not live life
anticipating disaster. Passengers did not board Flight 370 with the expectation
that their destination was uncertain and their human existence would shortly end.
No resident of the devastated community 60 miles north of Seattle anticipated
that a mountain landslide would crush their world taking their possessions and
even their lives. The example of just these two disasters allows the
uncertainties of life to impact our collective thinking – especially when we
realize multitudes of other catastrophes occurred that did not make the news.
How does one respond to the uncertainties
of life that we are forced to confront on a daily basis? One response may be
fear. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 40 million
American adults over 18 years of age deal with anxiety disorders, filling them
with fear and uncertainty. One web site suggests there are over 530 name
phobias. Beyond this the NIMH states there are 6.8 million people with a
“generalized anxiety disorder” marked by unprovoked exaggerated worry that
fills their waking hours in fear. I suppose one could say, living in a fearful
world for some is fear inducing.
Another response to living in an uncertain
world is emotional dismissal. Some embrace a fatalistic attitude and take as
their motto, “Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” Rather than being a
modern thought, this was written many centuries ago by the writer of
Ecclesiastes 8:15. A person with this personal mission statement has concluded
life is too uncertain to worry about, so just live life that you have now until
there is no more life to live. Having spoken to many people that have embraced
such a philosophy, I have concluded that their’s is but an attempt to suppress
uncertainty with activities that mask a gnawing reality they cannot dismiss.
For others their response is to turn to an
almighty, all-knowing, and all-wise God to make sense out of the uncertainties
of life. God’s Word agrees that life is uncertain. James puts it this way, “You
do not know what will happen tomorrow” (James 4:14). The Bible adds that God
knows our natural tendency is to worry about the uncertainties of life. Jesus
challenges that tendency and says, “Do not worry about your life” (Matthew
6:25). Then he addresses how God works in His world and how we need to live by
faith in a God who knows our ultimate needs and can provide for them. Jesus
adds “life is more important” than what we obsess about and is most often
shrouded in uncertainty. He concludes his discourse saying, “Therefore, do not
worry about tomorrow” (6:34). Jesus wants us to see past the uncertainties of
the present life, live life by faith, and focus upon an ultimate destiny that
does not have to be uncertain. Jesus asks a probing question, “What does it
profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” He adds, “For
the Son of man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and he
will reward each person according to what he has done” (Matthew 16:26, 27). Perhaps
we should ask, “If we could remove all the uncertainties of this present life,
and yet not prepare for eternity, are we still living in uncertainty?”
When confronted by the reality that life
is uncertain and disastrous at times, we should respond appropriately. Not in
paralyzing fears. Not in delusional indifference. Rather, our focus must be
upon the eternal realities of life. Faith tempers life’s uncertainties when it is
attached to a relationship with a God who loves us enough to give us His Son. He
makes it possible to remove the uncertainty of eternity from our lives. When
our eternity is certain, our present uncertainties are viewed in a different
way. The Apostle Paul lived a life of disaster and uncertainty being
imprisoned, beaten, exposed to death, shipwrecked, dangerous situations,
sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, cold, and nakedness (2 Corinthians 11:23-29).
Yet he views the uncertainties of life differently. He writes, “I consider our
present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed
in us” (Romans 8:18).
Difficulty and uncertainty do not need to
paralyze us. We need to view them in a proper way. History records an amazing
response to uncertainties by the Moravians, who are often credited as the
igniters of the protestant mission movement in the 1700’s. They moved into
uncertain areas and anticipated difficulty and disaster. Historians record that
hundreds of them, when leaving their homes, packed their meager belongings in
coffins rather than trunks because they never expected to return home alive.
Fear did not paralyze them. They did not dismiss the realities they faced. They
were propelled by faith in God and what he could and would ultimately do for
them. Likewise, don’t allow disaster and uncertainties to undo you. Face them
by faith.
