Trusting God in the Unknown

I had a plan for my family's next couple of months. After four long years, my husband is about to graduate from seminary and we have been preparing ourselves and our kids for the likelihood of a move shortly after, anticipating a quick hire. I scaled back my garden in preparation, held back from signing my kids up for all the summer activities, and have mentally had one foot out the door. But there is no job on the immediate horizon. There is no For Sale sign in my front yard. In fact, the only thing looming this summer is unknowns. 

The Lord gently brought Jeremiah 29 to mind: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce…work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare” (Jer 29:5,7 CSB). 

This was a prophecy given to the Jews in Babylonian exile. To those who’d survived years of attack and siege by the Babylonians and had been carried off into exile, God didn’t permit pity parties. Instead, He called them to contentment in their location–to better their new hometowns, to cultivate, flourish, and bless those who lived there. In a call that faithfully echoes His covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12), God desired that all nations would be blessed through His children. Just as God was sovereign over their location when He delivered Israel from Egypt and made a home for them in the Promised Land, so He was sovereign over them–involved, caring, and in control–in their exile. The well-known Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that God’s sovereign care would also extend to their eventual restoration and wholeness. 

Maybe you’re not anticipating a transition like I am. But I’m confident that we both hold the tension of unknowns, and the desire to grow in trusting the Lord.

This summer, my trust in Him will lead me to plant flowers, sign up to serve at VBS, and invest wholeheartedly in my local relationships. Will you join me in trusting the Lord by seeking contentment in your current season? Will you join me in seeking the welfare of your hometown, of your family, and honoring the Lord by being a blessing right where your feet are planted? I believe we will see His gift of wholeness here.

Meet the Author
Stephanie Wilcox

Stephanie is an avid tea drinker, thrifter, and reader. Stephanie and her husband, Brandon, live in the Pittsburgh suburbs with their three children, where they enjoy participating in serving the body of Christ together. In the constant pursuit of delight in the Creator, you can most often find her outside with her kids, with bare toes in the grass, hiking, or pulling weeds out of her mediocre garden.