I’ve heard it before, and I’m sure I’ll hear it again: “You are not called to be comfortable in life, nor in your relationship with God. It’s about stepping out, being uncomfortable, and embracing the uncertainty.” Easier said than done.
Nonetheless, I think there are times in life when you realize the hidden truth in something someone once said to you. It’s a bit like insisting on doing something your own way but eventually realizing your mom was right all along.
As a self-diagnosed perfectionist, being a natural planner tends to be part of the package. However, if being abroad has taught me two things thus far, it’s that you can’t expect to plan for everything that’ll come your way, nor can you arrange to live within the constraints of your comfort zone. You’re often left to the discomfort of being on the edge of your seat, instead of being left to your own devices. However, what results is nothing short of exhilarating.
At least over here at SLU-Madrid, we SLU-St. Louis kids travel like there’s no tomorrow: book Friday morning Portugal flights on Thursday night, try the octopus tapas, and flawlessly navigate Paris like we’ve done it a hundred times before.
The truth? We have no idea what we’re doing! But, we do it with a deceiving smile and make everyone believe that Europe has nothing on us, and it works because what we’re doing is exactly what makes the whole experience worthwhile. If we never once traveled on a flight cheaper than a pair of new jeans, never got lost in the beauty of a view, or never experienced the “I have no money left” feeling, we will have “been abroad,” but not lived it to the fullest potential.
Likewise, Christ continuously calls us to be unsatisfied in our relationships with him. But, instead of the uncertainty revolving around what our señoras will make for dinner or to where we will travel for the weekend, the uncertainty exists in what lies ahead, according to God’s plan for us as individuals. It’s not just letting your roommates plan the weekend activities or trusting that there will, in fact, come a day when you can eat your favorite homemade dish again.
However uncomfortable it is for us humans, God lives for the moments when he can uproot us, keep us on our toes, and push us to grow because He knows that it is the moment when we become content and cozy that stagnancy creeps in and we stop living the radically beautiful and world-changing lives he’s laid out. That’s exactly where the trust comes in, and Oswald Chambers, prominent Scottish Christian minister and author of the early twentieth century, seems to know exactly what this entails.
He writes, “Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life – gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God, He begins to fill our lives with surprises.”
Kind of cool, right? Instead of waking up everyday and looking at Christ as a domineering, absent figure in our lives, we can look at him as a companion in the excitement, in the frustration, and in the joy. It’s like an adventure – or maybe like traversing yet another foreign city – expect there’s a hidden advantage that makes all the difference. He knows the way.
