Following God in times of uncertainity

Introduction

Has anyone ever felt uncertain?

Maybe it was in a small thing or maybe in something huge, but I guarantee in each of our lives we have felt uncertain at one point or another.

In our uncertainty it is easy to become complacent.

In other words we often get so caught up in our circumstances that we forget all the wonderful things the Lord is doing in our lives.

Maybe for you, today is a time of uncertainty. Tonight is my last Wednesday night and maybe you have some level of uncertainty about what is next for this Youth Ministry.

The Christian is a man who can be certain about the ultimate even when he is most uncertain about the immediate.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones

This quote is encouraging for the Christian and here’s why.

We as Christians don’t need to be certain with the immediate things in this life and knowing exactly what tomorrow holds.

We are certain about the ultimate and that is that God has everything under control, his will on the earth is going to be done, and we can be excited because we are certain that our eternity lies in heaven with him!

Today I want to turn to a popular verse in scripture

A verse that has often used by famous athletes as their motivational verse.

I remember when I was 13 I got a pair of Stephen Curry basketball shoes with this verse on it.

Philippians 4:13 CSB

13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

when I got that pair of basketball shoes at 13 years old and first heard that a verse like that was in the bible, I was like man....

“I can do all things”

I thought that meant if I prayed hard enough God would give me the ability to dunk

and

I thought that meant if I didn’t do bad stuff God was going to give me a ferarri.

“I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me”

To truly understand that passage and what the author of Philipians, the apostle Paul was saying we have to know the context.

How uncertain would you be if you were in a dark Roman prison?

I know I would be terrified. If we were all honest, we would all be terrified.

The apostle Paul wrote Phil while in a dark Roman prison. He went from a high up, Jewish leader and killer of Christians to becoming so well known for his Christian teaching that he was largely hated by and eventually killed by his own Jewish people and the Romans who imprisoned him.

That is a feeling of uncertainty that we rarely, if ever face in America today.

We are going to read the passage that surrounds this verse in context today, when we read this verse in context, we get a glimpse of the proper biblical way to handle uncertainty.

Body

Philippians 4:10–13 CSB

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly because once again you renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me but lacked the opportunity to show it. 11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. 12 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

Are you?

Are you able to do all things through him who strengthens you?

A lot of people subscribe to that verse, they love it.

I’ll tell you this though, there is nothing easy about that verse. It’s a call to sacrifice. It’s knowing that your will for your life may not be the same as God’s will for your life.

It’s choosing Jesus and eternity over earthly glory and stuff.

Are you letting uncertainty rule your life or are you pursuing Jesus over everything?

I want to leave you guys with a few points of certainty today as we start to wrap things up, If you missed everything I just said, don’t miss this!

#1 Certain of Eternity

Conclusion