God’s Invitation in Uncertainty

John 1:38 – "Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, 'What are you seeking?' 

One of my favorite things about Jesus is that He leads with questions. In times of uncertainty, desperation, and pain, however, the uncertainty of His questions can feel unbearable, vulnerable, even lonely. I love that the Lord of the universe, our faithful and omniscient Savior, enters into this world asking questions. And also, how frustrating is it that we have to sit with these questions? 

As we wrestle and squirm in uncertainty, our impulse is to seek immediate answers. This is certainly the temptation in our current technological world. I wonder, however, if what we actually long for is presence. While Jesus does not always provide instantaneous reassurance in uncertainty, He came to earth to offer us the very presence for which our souls truly long. 

Wrestling with Uncertainty

We’re all looking for answers to big questions. I see this in my office weekly. “Why do I feel so much pain? Why do I feel stuck? Why is life so difficult?”

What questions do you find yourself asking most often? What question are you asking yourself today? What questions can't you quite get the answers to? 

I suffer from awful allergies. Last Friday, when my allergies were at their worst, I kept asking the question, “WHY!?” At the end of my rope, I grabbed my phone, typed in Google, “Why are my allergies so bad today?” and in less than 30 seconds, the AI chat assistant answered with pages of forms, articles, and more to diagnose my allergies. 

This experience, though silly, prompted me to reflect on our inability as humans to sit in the uncertainty. Everywhere I go, I can easily avoid sitting in a question with one search, click, or ChatGPT validation. We have become used to immediate resolution. 

The gift and the curse of our humanity is our curiosity. It’s in our nature to want an answer. We are meaning-makers and curious beings. Jesus knew this and yet He didn’t enter the world answering all of our questions with certainty. 

The 19th century poet, Rainier Maria Rilke, says, “Be patient towards all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.”

Though not Christian, he, like many artists and poets, illuminates something true about the human experience. Specifically, He invites us to answer questions in round about ways. To wander through curiosity and wonder, pain and confusion, and the vulnerability and mess of a question. Like a child repetitively asking “why,” there is wonder, even delight, in questions.  

However, most of the questions we struggle with are ones that elicit pain:

• “Why are we struggling to get pregnant?”

• “Why do I feel so lonely in my marriage?” 

• “Why do I wake up every morning with a cloud of depression?” 

• “When will I ever forget the trauma of my childhood?” 

• “When will I know peace?”

Because these questions are so painful and sitting in them brings real hurt, our temptation is to bypass uncertainty and seek immediate answers.

But what if, in rushing to resolve the uncertainty, we miss the opportunity to find God in the middle of our questions. What if God is present in the midst of our messy, frustrating, grievous questions, rather than on the other side of them. 

Resting in Presence

Instead of shortcuts to quick answers, Jesus invites us into so much more. 

Throughout the Psalms, David and other psalmists, introduce big questions without providing or receiving answers. They led with uncertainty and brought these questions to God.  

• Psalm 13:1-2, “How long O Lord?” 

• Psalm 130: 1 “Out of the depths I cried out to you…” 

As these examples illustrate, Scripture doesn’t shame us for asking questions or acknowledging the pain that they bring. Jesus echos this, when He says, simply, “Come to me…” (Matthew 11:28). 

When you are feeling the itch for certainty and want to lean into the invitation of presence, try asking these few questions. 

• What is certainty promising? Rest from anxiety, grief, the question itself?

• What is my urgency saying? “Solve this right now so you can feel at ease.” 

• What do I really need at this moment? 
  

What if, under our pleas for certainty (“I need to know the answer”), we are actually pleading for loving companionship (“I need to know that I am seen, safe, soothed and secure”). From an attachment lens, requests for certainty are requests to feel seen, safe, soothed and secured. As therapist Adam Young says, “Our greatest need as human beings is to be known, and to know that the person who knows us will be there for us when we need them.” 

While our brain shouts the demand “God, tell me what is going to happen!,” I think our souls whisper the question “God, are you here with me?”

Our souls long for more than a quick answer to our big questions. They long for the presence of someone to sit with us in the pain, grief, and discomfort of uncertainty. As a therapist, I have the opportunity to sit in this space with clients. In sessions, while clients are sharing about the messy middle between questions and answers, I feel deep closeness to the Lord. As I empathize with the pain of their uncertainty, I feel my own anxiety and helplessness of not being able to save clients from it, of not being able to run from the feelings of pain or uncertainty. 

It’s in these moments that I get a glimpse of the Lord’s invitation in messy questions. He doesn’t always take away the pain and uncertainty, He remains in it with us. He is the ultimate secure attachment figure who offers us what our souls, bodies, and minds long for: His presence. John 14:18 — “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

In the grief and pain of questions, God Himself says “I am with you always” Matthew 28:20 — “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What a glorious reassurance.