Living in the Unknown
- Whitney Nicole
- Aug 15, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 26, 2023
In one day it all changed. And in one day it can all change. I’ve grown accustomed to living in the uncomfortable place of Unknown. Of not knowing what tomorrow may bring, but only seeing the reality of that day, even that moment. Of not knowing where and how and when and what and who. Ifs and possibilities were staples of my walk. I used to struggle – okay, loathe this place. I did not like it, Sam I Am, no not one bit. But now – now, I’m grateful. Now, I’m thankful for what Unknown has taught me.
It was not easy. But there was simply no other way. At least not for me. I needed every bit of my journey that the Lord had to customize due to my choices. I’m sure there were other paths I could have maneuvered on, but I stepped out and chose my way often without consulting Him before making my plans. I don’t know what we were doing before GPS became a thing. Well, I can tell you what I did, and those copious MapQuest directions were a headache around every corner. But since GPS began locating, guiding, and rerouting us when we made a wrong turn or flew past a necessary exit, the destination has been more bearable to reach. And as I’ve given up the navigational control of my life, I’ve found security in the unlikely place of Unknown.
One truth I’ve come to live by is that you can only learn to trust God when you choose to trust God. What I mean is that until we release our clutched fingers from the life we’re grasping, we won’t know we’re catchable. And that we’re also going to survive and breathe again. There were many days I had to ask God for the strength and breath to breathe. And sometimes, that was all that day entailed. As I trusted Him for every breath (funny, I just received a copy of Nicholas Sparks’ novel Every Breath), I grew stronger to trust Him for more.
As much as we think we know God, we can always know Him deeper. As I lost the structures I had set up to hold me up, I found a God who was right beside me, behind me, and before me who could make me stand again. A God who could help me see a beautiful new design, this time one He would build. We know that any magnificent and intricately detailed building cannot be erected overnight. It takes a framework. A plan. A team. Time and work. And like such fanciful pieces of architecture, our lives often take the same. We must trust that as God led the exiting Israelites in what seemed to be aimless meander, He has a purpose for our rerouted direction too.
The most important of those I’ve come to learn was not a what but a who. It was discovering the God who had always been more intimately. It was resting in attributes about Him that I had only skimmed past in my Bible and overlooked. And as I did, I found myself not looking forward to the answers I needed to be answered but to the Answer for every question I could ever think to ask. I was seeing and experiencing and walking with this God who knew. And in Him, I found such security and peace that no job or earthly husband or storehouse could offer me. I didn’t know, and I was okay with not knowing, because I now knew the God who did.
As I began entrusting my path to God, it also meant that I didn’t have to figure out the where, how, when, what, and who anymore on my own. When I knew that I was walking exactly in the direction God wanted me to, when I encountered the unsolvable and unthinkable, I could rest in the truth that God was not caught by surprise. In fact, He may have led me right there. For my good and His glory. I don’t know what path of Unknown you’ve found yourself on. Whether it is one you charged ahead on without navigation or one in which you were led by the Navigator. Either way, I want to bring you this comfort – you’re not lost. There’s a way forward from today. There’s provision even though you have no tracking number for its arrival.
I want you to learn to trust God by choosing to trust God. And I want you to breathe. Even if you can’t see your way around this corner or perhaps what seems to be a mountain. Just breathe. In and out. Slow and deep. You’re catchable. You’re going to survive. And you’re going to breathe again.
What would it look like for you to trust God today? After some reflection, check out some of the scriptures and worship songs I’ve used (and am still using) to get me through the Unknown.
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