Living Faithfully in the Midst of Uncertainty

Living Faithfully in the Midst of Uncertainty --> Cross published at Faithfully Living

By Pastor Bob Cornwall

I’m at a crossroads of sorts. I’ve served my current congregation for almost 4 years as its “transitional pastor.” That means that I’m supposed to help it make a transition from what it was to what it can be. It also means that at some point I must make a transition from being that transitional pastor to something else — either the called pastor of this congregation or as the pastor of some other congregation – or something altogether different. Any suggestions? If only blogging was a lucrative profession! The good news is that the congregation I’m serving wants me to stay. I’m very open, but I also feel the need to see what else is out there. So the question is — Should I stay or should I go to places unknown? Questions like these are bound to create a degree of uncertainty. And so they do.

Last week Cheryl called me at work and said, well one of us in the family knows where we’re going to be next year. I said, “And who is that?” Well the answer was – our son, who had received his acceptance letter from CSU Northridge – where he had applied for film school. Ah, at least one of us knows the future. But for Cheryl and me, and the congregation I serve, we still walk in that realm of uncertainty.

Why am I sharing this with you? I think it has something to do with the matter of faith and what it means. Mainliners like me find it difficult at times to be forthcoming about the nature of our faith. We keep it close to the vest, but sometimes experiences suggest we open up a bit. Times of uncertainty can push us to opening our hearts to others so that they might see at least a glimpse of the presence of God in our lives. Now, I’ve been in the church the entirety of my 49 years, 10 months, and 13 days). I’ve been part of a number of faith communities, but I’ve never known anything but the church. Inbred in me is a sense of faith in God, so that even in the midst of uncertainty, I have hope in God – in the God I find revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16). That is my hope for tomorrow.

I know that some wonder how educated people living in the 21st Century can believe in someone or something that is essentially invisible, something that is unprovable scientifically (though there are plenty of books that suggest the possibility of such proof), something you have to take by faith. All that I can say is that this faith has proven to be a source of strength through the ups and downs of my life. It is a sense of strength found in the midst of a relationship with a God I can’t see or hear in the normal sense, and yet …

I understand the questions of a Dawkins or a Harris or a Hitchens. But it is this faith that sustains me in the midst of uncertainty, a faith that gives me hope that the world can be better and that I can make a difference. It is a simple statement, not couched in grand theological language. I could quote from great theologians, but this is sufficient for the moment.