The Unknown

The unknown bears with it multiple emotions. Then again, it would have to. For who rejoices at the first moment of death; or who trembles in fear at the first thought of new friendships. But rather, you fear at breaking friendships and you mourn at deaths. But your mind cannot process the unknown efficiently. You may decide in yourself to fear the unknown, but what if when the unknown becomes known and it is a source of joy and excitement and happiness? What if it is a new job or a new significant other or a new family member? If you prepared your heart and mind for the unknown with fear, then when the joy is revealed, you will fear it instinctively. What if the boss is irrational and angry? What if this significant doesn't understand the same type of humor or mind processes? What if the new family member doesn't like you or doesn't connect with you or is scared of you, too?

If you prepared your mind for the unknown with pure exhilaration and enthusiasm, then you will be clutched to stillness when your new job forces you to move across the country. Your heart with implode when you realize this significant other only wanted your status or your money or your influence for personal benefit. Your emotions will go haywire when you find out this new family member has a hard background, scary life-view, and reserved speech.

Therefore, since the unknown is precisely that, we must prepare with a constant. What can be present in both the happy and sad, the mundane and the exciting, the serious and the jovial? What can be present in the deepest of sorrows and the highest of joys? What can be focused on now before the unknown comes that will be adequate when the unknown reveals itself?

Trusting God in the unknown prepares us for trusting God in the known. When we don't know the future, we need to trust God. When we find out the job is the perfect one, we need to trust God. When that job moves us across the country, we need to trust God. When our significant other reveals zero flaws, we need to trust God. When our significant other reveals a significant flaw, we need to trust God. When a new family member becomes a closest friend, we need to trust God. When a new family member has a wall because too many people in his past has bombarded his heart, we need to trust God.

For when we trust God in the unknown, despite what we may hope for, we already have a foundation of trust for when the unexpected comes. God is not a Deity who glories in pain and relishes in discouragement. Rather, He is One who desires the best for us. While the road that leads us to the best may not be pleasant or anticipated, God is with us through it all and with us in our best.

Trust comes with knowledge. God doesn't desire blind faith—the kind of faith where you throw a dime in the air and hope it lands on its edge. But rather, God desires the trust that comes from observation of facts. God doesn't desire us to trust Him to do as we imagine, but rather to do as He deems best. We can look at the stories of the lives of people in the Bible to see how God interacted with His people and preformed mighty deeds and kept His word and upheld the righteous. And we can look into the lives of recent figures in history through their biographies and autobiographies and observe the same God taking care of His people through His faithfulness. We can observe through our own lives how God keeps His word and how He remained faithful. Therefore, when we trust God to be King and El Shaddai in our unknown, we are depending on His trustworthiness that has been displayed ever since Creation. When we trust God to bring about our best in times of joy and sorrow and in times of excitement and mundane, we can depend more firmly in His unchanging faithfulness to His people.

Trust God in the unknown so that you may trust God in the known. He will not leave you. He will not detest you. He will not end His love for you. He will not be blind to the future. He will continue to produce growth in your spirit and continue to shine forth His faithfulness.