Our Stories
Certainty or Trust
By Doug Humphreys | posted 10/22/2009
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)
I was at the gym the other day and was listening to a podcast where a guy told the story of how he traveled to India in search of Mother Teresa, found her, got to speak to her and was surprised by what she had to say.
You see, this guy had begun to sincerely seek God’s will for his life, and had become convinced that God was calling him to do something great. He was both willing and excited. The problem was that he had no clue what that great thing was. So when the opportunity presented itself to fly to India and actually talk to Mother Teresa, he jumped at the chance.
The day came to meet Teresa of Calcutta. He approached her and asked a simple question, "Will you pray for me?" She told him yes, and then asked, "What do you want me to pray for you?" The man answered, "I want clarity. I want to know exactly what it is that God is calling me to do with my life." The man told of his puzzlement when Mother Teresa looked back at him, frowned, and said, "No, I won't pray for that for you." Confused and embarrassed, the man blurted out, "But why? I only want what you've had for your life. You seem to always know exactly what it is that God is calling you to do." Mother Teresa looked back at him and said, "I, sir, have never had certainty, what I have had is trust. So, I will pray that you learn how to trust."
If given the choice between certainty and trust, I think most people - even those sincerely seeking to do something big for God - long first for certainty. God, I believe, longs for trust. I wonder in fact if the longing for certainty doesn’t rob us of the gift of trust. If we are certain about what God is doing, we can decide yes or no in a clinical manner - we needn’t trouble ourselves with issues of God’s character or trustworthiness. What if you were, say, 70% sure God was calling you to something? Would you wait until it was certain? If so, I wonder what great things that God was inviting you to be a part of that you would miss.
Doug can be reached via email here.
