The Unknown

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” - Hebrews 13:5-6 

The writer of Hebrews makes a clear point here. In this section of the letter, the author is giving some very clear direction on Godly living and how to conduct ourselves. I would encourage you to read  the entire book of Hebrews in one sitting to help understand the scope of what is being stated here. But for our purposes, we will just look at these two verses.
 
When I first decided that this is what I was going to write on, I went through many scriptures and I found this scripture to be both directive and encouraging at the same time. This point he makes here is very clear on Godly living and not having fear.
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When I stop and I think about “The Unknown”, it brings to mind all of the uncertainty that comes with just living a normal life. There is so much that we don't know and so much of which we can't be absolutely certain. God and His word is not one of those things. 

The uncertainty of our financial future is one. Not because we don't plan and practice good stewardship but because we are never promised tomorrow. If the country falls then so will the financial system. What will we do then? Our children's salvation is yet another. Again, not that we don't raise them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord but, this one is out of our hands. We raise them according to God and His instruction we find in the Bible and it is up to God and His sovereignty to save them. 

The bridge we’re driving over may fall. We don’t know if the engineer who designed it was competent or not. We don’t know if they used the proper materials or if they cut corners while assembling it. We just go about our days with so many unknowns and trust that things will work and with confidence, cross that bridge. We take that one step after another and live our lives completely ignoring all the possibilities that are out there. We think it normal that things operate in the manner that they do and that it will always be that way.    

So, why is it then, that when things get tough in our life we start panicking about what we will do? We start freaking out when we feel like we are backed into a corner. If your bank account is empty and there is no food in the pantry with mouths to feed, what do you do? Do you stress out and worry about how you will feed them? Or, do you make plans and trust God to provide? 

Here in this section of Hebrews we see a clear direction of what we are to do when we face hard times and the unknown. 

“be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'”

True contentment, the kind that brings peace, comes from a full trust in God and that He will, and does, provide for you in every way. From the next breath you take to the food you eat and even the job you have to provide for you, and your family. Think of it this way, every beat of your heart is a gift of God. We don’t deserve to live. We deserve eternal punishment. But God with mercy and grace that He has patience with us. 

We see this mercy that is shown here: 

 “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” - Matthew 5:45

​This should be encouraging for us. We also see that we are told that “The Lord is my helper.” How could we want anything more than this? The one who spoke everything into being, the one who holds all existence together by His power, is our helper. The One and Only True God, helps us. So then, you see the result of that in the last part of this section. “I will not fear”. We have absolutely nothing to fear. We don’t need to fear man either. 
You see when we feel like the entire world is caving in on us and we are absolutely alone, we aren’t. God is with us. God is omnipresent. This means He is everywhere at all times. We can never get away from God. Let's end with another scripture I pray that drives this home for you.

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 8:38-39

​The Lord is with us and nothing can separate us from Him or His promises He made. Rely on Him and trust Him in all things and at all times. He will not fail us. I'm not preaching a prosperity Gospel but I am saying that God will take care of you. He can bring peace when you feel nothing but anxiety and comfort in times of pain. Focus on Him and His word in times of confusion. Cling to Christ and His Word and the God of all the universe will be with you always.

Jonathan Eckel