Pastoral Letters

Living in an Uncertain World

November 20, 2016 Author:Elder Liu Kerh Li
The long anticipated election of the American president has finally come to fruition.  In the course of the election, various people have provided analyses of the percentage of supporters for each candidate, election strategies, and the voters’ sentiments on the ground.  The election race of the two presidential candidates reached a feverish pitch.  Various forecasts and the media predicted that Hilary Clinton would win the coveted office of president.  The results, however, were not what people had expected.   In this world where there is information overload, information is being analysed and digitally quantified so as to predict the future.  Events in the world, however, often go beyond our expectations.  These unexpected happenings often disrupt our original plans so as to make us feel uneasy.  Donald Trump, out of expectation, has been elected as president.  His earlier speeches subscribed to extreme views.  This caused many people and countries to find it hard to predict his policies on government, foreign affairs, military matters, and public relations.  Consequently, they feel uneasy.  

Daily, we face unabated unexpected events.  Life is filled with much uncertainty.  This is inevitable because we are not God.  Hence, some look to fortune tellers, the horoscope, etc.  They hope that by knowing the future they could make some preparations.  Actually, this is unnecessary.  We need not know the future in order to be more secure.  The fact is we cannot really do much even if we knew the future.  Can we change things?  I fear that we may become even more anxious because we are unable to change events that hinder our future progress.  Before Moses led the Israelites into the Promised Land, he told that generation of Israelites: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deut 29:29).  How Israelites would fare after entering the Promised Land is only known to God.  But God has already told them the secret to living successfully in the Promised Land, and that is by obeying the law of God.  “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.  For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.  But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess” (Deut. 30:15-18).  Likewise, we are unable to even predict our life in the next moment.  However, as long as we live and do things according to the Bible’s teachings, we can be sure that our future will be secure.  God’s Word does not only provide us guidance on moral issues to ensure that we stay away from sinful ways and hence be blessed by God.  God’s Word also gives us wisdom to direct the various aspects of our lives.  This wisdom includes what constitutes a right attitude towards work, principles for managing our finances, relationship with our spouses, the uncertainties of life, etc.  What we should we do is to diligently learn God’s Word and obey it, and not to worry about tomorrow which is unknown.

We may know in our intellect that God controls all things and also do our part in obeying the Bible’s instructions.  When we meet with difficulties, however, feeling anxious and insecure is inevitable.  We are all frail people.  Paul encourages us: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7).  We thank the Lord.  He empathises with our weaknesses.  We can hence confidently draw strength from Him to face the uncertain future.  When we feel very uneasy, this is also the time that we should trust the Lord and exercise our faith.