We live in an age of certainty – we want to be sure about everything. This sentiment is in stark contrast to what it means to be people of faith. Certainty, one could say, has become the idol of our times.
In the Gospel, Jesus says that the only certainty we can hold onto is that God knows all. Notice that he says that nobody – neither the angels nor the Son – know, only God knows. It is an invitation to let go of the need to be certain.
We live precarious lives. We live in a precarious world. We work hard to try and make sure that we are secure – materially, psychologically and spiritually. Yet, in a flash, when tragedy strikes or the tilted structures of our world seize control, we realize just how fragile and uncertain our lives can be. We can, quite literally, be here today and gone tomorrow. There is not much we can be certain of when it comes to the
fragility of our lives and the life of the planet we inhabit.
However, as people of faith, we can say that we are certain that God is in control – Jesus assures us of this. We might not like to hear this, or we might be tempted to live with the illusion that we have some control. Ultimately it is God who is in control. Jesus wants us to draw consolation from the fact that God knows all and that God is in control.
It is to God that we are being invited to surrender the control we so desperately hold onto. In the spiritual life, we are invited, over and over, to give over control to God. Strangely, the more we surrender, the more peace we will find and the less fraught things will seem. We have only one certainty – despite what we think! The God of the universe will return and take all creation to himself; our destiny is not in our hands
but God’s hands. Our task is simply to relinquish the control we (our egos) so desperately cling to so that we can find the peace we desire.
What makes it difficult for you to relinquish control to God? What might you need to begin to let go of now: your desire for certainty? Security? Take a few moments to speak to God about the challenge of letting go.
