It’s September, and normally that brings with it a flurry of activity as we return to work and school. But of course, things are not normal. We continue to live with a great deal of uncertainty in life with things like the surge in Delta variant cases of COVID across the country. The “no mask mandate” for schools in a number of states, signed by governors who are now trying to enforce such misguided legislation, has only served to heighten uncertainty and anxiety among people, especially parents, students, and teachers. The changing weather patterns taking place on a global scale resulted in one of the wettest Augusts on record here while other areas of the country endure ongoing, severe drought coupled together with extreme heat and wildfires. Devastation from Hurricane Ida, as well as record flooding that preceded this, have resulted in untold suffering. We watched in disbelief as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, resulting in the evacuation of Americans and allies from that country. Our hearts ache for the terrible loss of American military personnel whose lives were snuffed out in the Kabul airport bombing. And what of the many, many Afghan people who fled their country, leaving everything behind? And what of the many, many Afghan people who are still inside Afghanistan, desperate to escape, but unable to do so, living in fear for their lives?

Living with such uncertainty, it would be very easy to become cynical or bitter about the state of affairs in our world at present. Is there hope for the future? What does the way ahead look like? What will the world be like for our children and grandchildren? Certainly we are not the first people to experience such trying times. Previous generations lived through uncertainty, perhaps far greater than what we are living through now. What can we learn from them?

The prophet Jeremiah lived through uncertain times in his own life. He is often called the “weeping prophet” because of his sorrow and grief over God’s call for him to bear the message of God’s judgment upon the people of Judah. Although we do not know the exact dates of Jeremiah’s life, we do know that he was called by God to prophesy from the reign of King Josiah (one of the rare kings in Judah who sought to follow and obey the Lord) in ca. 627 B.C. until the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. As is always the case with prophets who bring a message of impending judgment and a call to repentance, people do not want to hear this. That call to repentance was coupled together with God’s continual concern for his chosen people, as well as for justice and righteousness in people everywhere. The world as Jeremiah knew it was quickly passing away as he witnessed with his own eyes the fall of his own city and state, as well as the exile of his king and fellow citizens to far-off Babylon. The people of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the prophet Jeremiah himself, surely wondered what all of this meant. Talk about living with uncertainty!

In the midst of this, though, God comforted his uncertain and despairing people with this word of promise and hope: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). Looking around at the shattered remains of the life they knew, God’s people may have questioned how the Lord God would bring this about. Sometimes in our own lives, when we have been brought low, we also wonder how the Lord God will make good on his promises to us. Where is our future and our hope? Jeremiah’s words point ahead to God making good on his promise by sending his only Son who would fulfill all of God’s promises; who would do for us what we could never do for ourselves; who lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father’s will and purpose and who took upon himself our sin and shame. Our future and our hope are found in Jesus, who loves us with an everlasting love, and who laid down his life on the tree of the cross to make us his own. Even when we cannot see how the Lord God will redeem the current situation and bring forth good out of what appears to be only suffering and loss, we affirm the angel Gabriel’s words to Mary: “Nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). To trust in this promise, to cling to these words, is faith.

We do indeed walk by faith, not by sight. As St. Augustine once said: “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe” (67 Inspirational St. Augustine Quotes - AnQuotes.com). Life will always be filled with uncertainty, both in good times and in bad times. The question for the child of God is how will we respond to the uncertainty? The Lord who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Psalm 103:8), promises that he will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). In the midst of uncertainty, when we feel like things are spinning out of control, we keep our eyes fixed on the One whose life and love are always certain: Jesus.