July 11

The zest of uncertainty

“And he went out, not knowing whither he went” (Heb.11:8).
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8
“It doth not yet appear what we shall be” (1 John 3:2).

We are apt to look upon uncertainty as a bad thing, because we are all too mathematical and common sense. The nature of spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty, consequently we do not make our “nests” anywhere spiritually. Immediately we make a “nest” out of an organization or a creed or a belief, we come across the biggest of all calamities, the fact that all certainty brings death. G. K. Chesterton, that insurgent writer, pronounces all certainties “dead certainties.”


All through the Bible the realm of the uncertain is the realm of joy and delight; the certainty of belief brings distress. Certainty of God means uncertainty in life; while certainty in belief makes us uncertain of God. Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life; gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life, and they must both go together. “It is not yet made manifest what we shall be”—we are gloriously uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. Immediately we abandon to God and do the duty that lies nearest, He packs our lives with surprises all the time; whereas if we become the advocates of a set creed, something dies. All certainty brings death to something. When we have a certain belief we kill God in our lives, because we do not believe Him, we believe our beliefs about Him. The helplessness of professional religion is that there is no room for surprise; we tie God up in His laws and in denominational doctrines and orders of services, consequently we do not see God at all. We cannot corner God or spiritual life, to think we can is the curse of denominational belief—we have all the “stock” and no one can have it except in our way. Jesus Christ says: “Except ye become as little children . . .” A little child is certain of its parents, but uncertain about everything else, therefore it lives a perfectly delightful healthy life.

—Oswald Chambers.

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