The other day I heard a great sermon from Pastor Jabin Chavez of City Light Church in Las Vegas. There were a lot of great nuggets – I’ve listened to it at least 4x. But my favorite point (and his) was #3 Take a Step Into the Unknown.
Living in the Unknown
If you’re anything like me, the unknown is not your thing. I like all my ducks to be counted and in a neat line. The plans already made. The various outcomes taken into consideration. And everything around me encourages this.
Society kinda encourages this. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a common question to ask children. We need to have school and careers planned before leaving high school. If you’re in business, the movers and shakers are all about “taking massive action”. “Fail to plan; plan to fail”.
Even the Church sometimes falls into this line of thinking. “Hearing from God” and “discovering your calling” are both things that imply a neat plan that removes all doubt or questions. We elevate the people who “heard from God”. And if you have doubt it’s because you haven’t received clarity yet.
What I liked about the 3rd point of Pastor Chavez message was that there is a 3rd option where most of us dwell, but might be too ashamed to acknowledge. It’s the unknown. The grey area that frustrates us, paralyzes us and makes us question ourselves and sometimes God.
Faith and the Unknown
As Christians, we all want to do what God tells us to do. We want to be obedient. But when life is comprised of so much silence or questions it’s hard to feel like you’re doing what God wants you to do. I’m starting to wonder if that is not exactly where God wants us to be.
I once heard a pastor say “If you come to a fork in the road, take one!” He contested that our desire to know which we should take is really a mask for our desire to control our environment, to start planning and getting all the ducks in line. Honestly, he may have a point.
Pastor Chavez mentioned the story of Jonathan and his armor bearer in the message –
6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.”
7 So his armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.” [emphasis added]
1 Samuel 14:6-7
Like what? Jonathan didn’t pray about it. He didn’t go on a 40 day fast. He didn’t have a prophecy. The heavens didn’t part and God didn’t say, “Go thou here”. He stepped out on a “maybe”, and his equally crazy armor bearer was in unity about it. This blows my mind. He wasn’t talking about trying out tithing or taking a new job. They were about to go face-to-face with people that wanted to kill them…on a “maybe”.
Grace for the Maybe
I want to encourage you, if you’re living in the unknown like me, to not let the maybes of life paralyze you or make you feel like you don’t have a purpose or calling. Move on the maybe. Let that move deepen your trust in God and let the chips fall where they may, as the saying goes. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t listen for the nudges of the Holy Spirit. But understand that the vast majority of life is a choose your own adventure – you decide. And it doesn’t mean you’re less spiritual, or that you’re not listening to God or waiting on the Holy Spirit, or that God doesn’t have a plan or destiny for you.
There is grace on the other side of your step of faith. There is redemption. The world keeps turning and the plan of God stays intact. God can still work all things together for good (Romans 8:28). Pray. Seek God. But if there’s no clear direction, it might be that He wants you to choose. Trust Him and move on a maybe.
I encourage you to listen to the whole sermon. There’s a lot more context and encouragement on how to move on a maybe.