Embracing Uncertainty
From the Series—Chase the Lion
November 29, 2006This evotional begins a new series titled: Chase the Lion.
The series is based on the book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. You can purchase a copy online at amazon.com. Or download a free PDF of the first chapter at chasethelion.com.
During this seven-week series, we’re exploring seven lion chasing skills: defying odds, facing fears, overcoming adversity, embracing uncertainty, taking risks, seizing opportunities, and looking foolish.
II Samuel 23:20 says:
There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two of Moab’s mightiest warriors. Another time he chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it. Another time, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it. These are some of the deeds that made Benaiah almost as famous as the Three. He was more honored than the other members of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. And David made him commander of his bodyguard.
I know one thing for sure: none of these encounters were planned. Benaiah didn’t wake up on the morning of his lion encounter and plan out every detail. It wasn’t scheduled in Outlook. It wasn’t on his to do list. I’m not even sure it was on his wish list.
It is so easy to read about an incident that occurred three thousand years ago and fail to appreciate the element of surprise because we know how the story ends. We read the Bible like a textbook instead of a storybook. But what you need to see is that killing the lion was not a foregone conclusion.
Hand-to-hand combat with another human is one thing. Humans have tendencies. You can predict punches and counterpunches with a higher level of certainty. But savage beasts tend to be volatile and unpredictable. Their actions and reactions are less certain. Plus you have to account for topographical, physiological and atmospheric conditions.
How heavy was it snowing? Was it packing snow or slippery snow? What was the footing like in the pit? How about visibility? What time of day was it? How hungry was the lion? How well did Benaiah sleep the night before? Did he eat his Wheaties for breakfast that morning?
There are a thousand variables and they all add up to one thing: a high level of uncertainty! It could have gone either way. Heads or tails—in the most literal sense! But that is what makes it such a great story—such a God-honoring story!
I’m no movie director, but it seems like the greatest movies have the highest level of uncertainty. You have romantic uncertainty or dramatic uncertainty if the movie is going to hold the attention of the audience. We love suspense.
I think of classic movies like The Fugitive or Gladiator where you’re on the edge of your seat the entire movie! Or Sleepless in Seattle. Will Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan meet atop the Empire State Building?
It is the uncertainty that makes those movies worth watching. And I would suggest that it is uncertainty that makes like worth living! High levels of uncertainty don’t just make the best movies. High levels of uncertainty make the best lives! And that is what faith enters the equation.
I’m just not convinced that faith results in a reduction of uncertainty, but let me make a distinction between two kinds of uncertainty.
I think faith does reduce spiritual uncertainty.
We can know that we know that our sins are forgiven; our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life; we have been adopted as God’s children; all the promises of God are yes in Christ; every spiritual blessing is ours in Christ; and when we cross the spacetime continuum we’ll spend eternity in a place called Heaven.
But here’s the trick. I think it is those spiritual certainties that enable us to embrace circumstantial uncertainties. Faith results in a reduction of spiritual uncertainty, but it often results in an increase in circumstantial uncertainty because God is going to call us to go places and do things that require total reliance upon God. And in many instances, the more faith the more uncertainty!
Oswald Chambers said it best. “To be certain of God is to be uncertain in all our ways, you never know what a day may bring. This is generally said with a sign of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation.”
Certainty and monotony are spiritual synonyms.
I think some of us are bored to tears with our faith. And I’ll tell you why. We’ve settled for certainty. But if we actually stepped out in faith relationally or financially or spiritually we’d be anything but bored. Go on a mission trip. Share your faith. Start tithing on your income. Quit walking the path of certainty!
Adventure
Do you remember what Jesus said to those who wanted to follow him? He gave them a warning in Matthew 8:20.
Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.
Here is my translation: when you follow Christ you never know where you’re going to end up. Anything can happen. All bets are off! That is scary, but it is also exciting. Jesus was promising high levels of uncertainty—the element of surprise. And He delivers on His promises!
Following Christ is the ultimate adventure!
A few years ago I took Parker camping for his birthday. We got up to Cape Henlopen State Park around 6:30 PM; set up camp; roasted some hot dogs; and then we went on a night hike to the Great Dune Observatory that overlooks the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean.
It was a clear night so you could actually see the lights from Cape May, New Jersey across the bay. Parker said, “Look, dad, it’s Europe.” I almost didn’t have the heart to tell him that it was just New Jersey!
We got up at 6:30 AM the next morning to watch the sunrise. Then we explored some dunes, went lizard hunting, and caught some hermit crabs on the beach.
If I had to describe our camping trip in a phrase, I’d describe it this way: never a dull moment. There is something about a camping trip that turns everything into an adventure. You aren’t just eating. You’re adventure eating—you cook your food over the campfire. You aren’t just sleeping. You’re adventure sleeping—you’re in a tent under the stars. And you’re not just walking. You’re adventure walking—there were mysterious sights and sounds all around us. When you go camping it turns everything into an adventure!
Can I suggest that that is precisely what a relationship with Christ does? I think following Jesus ought to feel more like a camping trip! It turns everything into an adventure. And part of adventure is high levels of uncertainty!
Sacrificing Certainty
Matthew 4:18-22 records the calling of the first disciples. All of them were fishing at the time. And I’m guessing they enjoyed fishing. It was all they had ever known. It was their family business. But when Jesus called them it says they left their boats and left their father to follow Him. In a sense, Jesus was calling them to sacrifice certainty. He was telling them to leave everything they knew behind. They were leaving family behind. They were leaving their business behind. And I think we underestimate how tough this was!
I wonder if their families ever tried to pressure them into coming back. So when are you going to come back and take over the family business? I wonder if they ever used the guilt card. Dad really needs your help.
What we fail to appreciate is that following in the footsteps of your father was a cultural expectation. They were expected to carry on the family business. The fishing business had probably been in the family for generations! And there was a degree of security and certainty in that. But following Jesus required sacrificing certainty!
When we look back on our lives, the defining moments are going to be those forks in the road where we could have stayed on the path of certainty, but we made a decision to walk down the path of uncertainty. I suppose Peter, Andrew, James, and John could have spent the rest of their lives fishing on the Sea of Galilee! But they made a decision to walk the path of uncertainty!
One of the toughest decisions I ever made was deciding to transfer from the University of Chicago to Central Bible College.
At the end of my freshman year of college, I was starting to feel the pressure to declare a major, and I realized that I had never asked God what He wanted me to do with my life. So I started praying and seeking that entire summer between my freshman and sophomore year at the University of Chicago. And it was during a prayer walk through a cow pasture in Alexandria, Minnesota that I really sensed God calling me into full-time ministry.
On paper, everything was perfect at the University of Chicago. I had a full-ride scholarship. I had a position on the basketball team. It was one of the top-rated academic institutions in the country. I knew that a degree from the U of C could open doors to lots of jobs and lots of graduate programs. On paper it was perfect. But I really felt like God was calling me to pursue full-time ministry right away—not when I graduated. So I transferred to Central Bible College. I had to sacrifice the certainties of the University of Chicago to pursue the uncertainties of ministry. And I look back on it as one of the defining decisions of my life. I had to give up something that was good in order to experience the best that God had for me!
Missed Opportunity
In my estimation, Matthew 19 is one of the saddest stories in the Bible. The rich young ruler asks Jesus a question in Matthew 19:16: “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
Jesus told him to keep the commandments and the rich young ruler said he had kept the commandments since he was a child. Evidently he was good at the do’s and don’ts. He was religious. But then he asks a question that reveals that something was still missing in his life: “What do I still lack?”
On paper, it seems like this guy has it all. He wasn’t just rich. Scripture says he had great wealth. And he was young. But I think this story is a great reminder that no matter how wealthy you are, no amount of money can offset relational or emotional or spiritual poverty. Money doesn’t solve relational vacuums. Money doesn’t buy you happiness. And money doesn’t earn you peace of mind.
So this rich young ruler asks Jesus: “What do I still lack?”
Something was missing and I’ll tell you exactly what I think it was: spiritual adventure. He was keeping the commandments, but he was lacking the rush of adrenaline that can only come when you live by faith and walk the path of uncertainty. I think everything in his life was too defined. All of his needs and wants were taken care of. But there was no great purpose. There was no noble cause! No adventure!
It sort of reminds me of a friend of mine who starting a company not long ago. He was a professor at a well-respected university. We were having coffee one day and he said to me, “I know exactly how much money I’ll be making ten years from now.” And it was good money. Guaranteed money! And you would think that kind financial security would result in contentment, but my friend is a lion chaser! His future was too secure, too predictable, too defined. So he handed in his resignation and started a dot.com.
On one level it seemed like a crazy move—giving up a tenured professorship to pursue a dot.com dream. But lion chasers are more afraid of lifelong regret than temporary uncertainty.
Now let me circle back to the rich young ruler.
Jesus issued a challenged in Matthew 19:21: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Part of us empathizes with the rich young ruler. The disciples only had to give up their fishing nets. Jesus asked this man to give up all of his wealth. We can’t imagine giving up everything we have. But let me flip the coin. Washington, DC is the internship capital of the world—the right internship with the right person can open doors of opportunity the rest of your life. It’s amazing how many Supreme Court Justices were once Supreme Court clerks. It’s amazing how many members of Congress were pages and interns. Jesus was offering this man the opportunity of a lifetime—an internship with the Son of God. I’ve got to think that looks pretty good on a resume! What dollar value would you put on that kind of experience? I daresay that no one in the history of humankind has been offered a better internship opportunity than this rich young ruler. And he said “no!”
Why? Because he wasn’t willing to sacrifice the certainties in his life. He wasn’t willing to walk the path of uncertainty!
Now juxtapose his story with these uneducated and inexperienced fishermen that Jesus called as his disciples.
In a day and age when the average person never traveled outside a thirty-mile radius of their home, Jesus told these fishermen to “go into all the world.” This was fifteen hundred years before the age of exploration!
These fishermen who grew up and lived their whole lives within a stones throw of the Sea of Galilee traveled all over the ancient world and turned the world upside down! According to Eusebius, the second century historian, Peter went to Italy. John ended up in Asia. James the son of Zebedee traveled as far as Spain. And even doubting Thomas ventured to India.
They could have walked the path of certainty and spent the rest of their lives on the Sea of Galilee. But Jesus turned them into World travelers and history makers.
Not only that, think about all that they experienced during their internship. They had box seats to every sermon Jesus preached and every miracle Jesus performed.
The disciples were poor in terms of material possessions, but they accumulated a wealth of experience. I think this Rich Young Ruler had it backwards. He forfeited a wealth of experience because he was more concerned about accumulating possessions than accumulating experiences!
So here is the question: what certainties do you need to sacrifice?
Maybe it’s a relationship!
I had a conversation with someone not long ago and she told me about a relationship she ended because they weren’t spiritually compatible. It was so painful, but I was so proud of her. That is a hard sacrifice to make, but in the long run I believe that spiritual compatibility is at the top of the list when it comes to a healthy and holy marriage.
Maybe you’re feeling the financial pressure right now. I’d encourage you to step out in faith and do something counterintuitive. Start tithing. I know it’ll increase financial uncertainty, but it also gives God room to work. If you honor God with your finances, God will bless you. You can take it to the bank.Maybe it’s occupational. I respect people who are bold enough to make a move in their thirties or forties or fifties. They refuse to settle for a position. They want to pursue God-ordained passions! So they apply to graduate school or start over at the bottom of the totem pole.
I’m not sure what certainty you need to sacrifice, but I have one last word of advice. Don’t wait for perfect conditions!Ecclesiastes 11:4 says, "Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap."
In other words, if you’re waiting for perfect conditions you’ll never do anything. There is a time to be cautious and a time to throw caution to the wind. There is a time to be prudent and a time to be valiant.
And it takes an awful lot of discernment to know when to do which.
But here’s what I know for sure, if you wait for certainty you’ll never do anything. In the words of Andy Stanley:
“There will always be an element of uncertainty. Generally speaking, you are probably never going to be more than eighty percent certain. Waiting for greater certainty may cause you to miss an opportunity.”
"Uncertainty actually increases with increased leadership responsibility. The more responsibility you assume as a leader, the more uncertainty you will be expected to manage. The cost of success as a leader is greater uncertainty, not less."
If Benaiah had waited for perfect conditions he would have never chased the lion! After all, it was a snowy day!
Walk the path of uncertainty!
Crash
In his book, The Barbarian Way, Erwin McManus writes about different animal groups. If you’ve studied ornithology or entomology or herpetology, you know that different groups of creatures have different names.
A group of fish is called a school. Ants are called colonies and bees are called a swarm. Cattle are herds, birds are flocks, and a tribe of lions is a pride. For what it’s worth, a group of buzzards is called a committee!
But here’s my personal favorite: a group of rhinos is called a crash.
That name seems so fitting! Believe it or not, a rhino can run about thirty miles per hour which is pretty amazing considering how much weight they are carrying! They are actually faster than squirrels which can run about twenty-six miles per hour. There’s a mental image!
Here’s the funny thing. Rhinos have terrible eyesight. They can only see about thirty feet in front of themselves. So they are running thirty miles an hour with no idea what’s at thirty-one feet! You would think they’d be timid creatures because they can’t see very far in front of themselves. But God, in his amazingly creative foresight, gave rhinos a big horn on the front of their head.
Erwin McManus piggy-backs off the crash analogy: “The future is uncertain, but we need to move toward it with confidence. There’s a future to be created, a humanity to be liberated. We need to stop wasting our time and stop being afraid of what we cannot see and do not know. We need to move forward full of force because of what we do know.”
Chase the lion!