We want to minimize risk. We want to hedge our bets. We want safety. We want predictability. We want a guarantee. We want a “warranty” on our decisions—the sense that it’s all going to “work out.” In short, we want certainty of outcomes. Eg: “If I do this, then things will work out this way…”
Aside from being impossible—it removes faith from the equation.
Since we can’t see the future, much less control it, any sense of certainty (in and of ourselves) is merely a mirage. It’s a game we play to feel better—to feel “in control.”
In truth, we only need certainty of God’s directives and our obedience. All we really need to know for sure is that we are obeying God. If we are following Him, we can rest in knowing that all the outcomes are in His hands, and He’s working all things for our greatest good.
In God’s shadow there is no true risk or vulnerability—there is only security and certainty.
Certainty of outcomes doesn’t provide real stability or peace—but certainty of God does.
How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. (Psalms 36:7)
