The Discipline of Uncertainty

#135

Friend,

“I knew it.”

You love to be right, and you especially love to predict the future successfully. It might be a trivial thing, such as guessing the correct score of a game (though I seriously doubt many people guessed the score of the Super Bowl correctly), or a significant thing such as asking someone to marry you (though some people are wrong about that as well!).

You crave certainty.

Certainty is not a factual reality, but an emotional one. It is a state of belief that may or may not be true and real, but it feels like it is.

And certainty gives us what we crave and need most: security. If I know what is coming, then I can handle whatever comes my way. Knowing = Security is what many of us think, and we can go to great lengths to have the illusion of certainty.

The truth is that your life is wildly unpredictable in beautiful and terrible ways. And chasing certainty is like running on a treadmill, you’ll spend a lot of energy and wind up going nowhere.

Instead of chasing certainty, I invite you to live in the Discipline of Uncertainty. The Discipline of Uncertainty is simply being at peace with what you are doing today without giving into the temptation of controlling tomorrow. It’s living one day at a time. It’s being ok that you are not sure where this will end, but trusting that the path or the journey is transformative.

A Spiritual Discipline is an intentional practice that draws your awareness and allegiance to God. The Discipline of Uncertainty prioritizes the process of becoming who God wants us to be instead of prioritizing arriving at a particular destination, especially when so many of our perceived destinations include things that are wildly outside of our control! (I can’t control a hiring committee, other bids on a house, or my children)

So, join me in the Discipline of Uncertainty because if you are here with me, then we will walk together.

Love,

Aaron