I like the permission this quote by Anne Lamott gives for our human response to faith in the midst.
I often long for certainty. Do you?
Particularly when it comes to making decisions. I want to have all the pros and cons mapped out. I want to ride out each option in my head until I’ve considered every pitfall, every possible hiccup along the journey.
But, in the end, I can never be certain if I’m doing the right thing… at least not in the moment.
Looking back on my last twenty years of adulting, I have had to jump into many decisions without absolute certainty. And in the end, even the ones that might not have been the best decision at the time led me forward. Each decision formed a piece of me that still exists today. Each decision made me stronger, increased my humility, and strengthened my faith.
I’ve never been good at sitting with the mess, the uncertainty, or the discomfort that comes right before and right after a decision is made. Yet still God invites me into the muck time and time again. God invites me over and over to sit right in the midst of it and feel what I feel.
That sounds kinda bleak, doesn’t it?
That a loving God would invite me right into the midst of the muck.
But I forgot to mention one thing…
God always takes a seat right in it with me even if I don’t initially notice. God sits with me right there in the mess until I can feel God’s hand in mine and begin to see the flicker of light ahead.
Until I am free to let God lead me to the next best thing.
May we not be afraid to be uncertain…for that is always where great things begin.
