Boca Grande, Magic, and Certainty

Well, I'm learning a bit about certainty these days. My life for the past year has been anything but certain. And now our next step is to find some sort of apprenticeship to prepare us for a church plant some day. Where and when that will be is, well, uncertain.

But you would expect some things to to be certain. That you could simply assume that they will come to pass exactly as you would think they would should come to pass. But few things are really certain enough that we can simply assume them (outside death and taxes).

I experienced a few of those "certainties" this weekend. First of all, the Orlando Magic take a 2 point lead in game 2 with one second left only to see Lebron James make a last second 3 pointer. Last night the Rays took a 10-0 lead and then a 6 run lead into the 9th inning only to give up 7 runs and blow the game 11-10.

The condo where we stayed in Boca Grande this weekend was owned by someone who recently died from cancer only 2 weeks after being diagnosed. One might assume he'd have plenty of time to enjoy his 400,000 dollar condo. But you just can't assume anything. Well, you can, but you're probably aware of the aphorism which accompanies the idea of assuming.

Yet I don't think we need to go hyper-existential and assume we can only know ourselves. We can be certain of the end of the story (Rev 21-22), certain of forgiveness (Col 1:14), certain that he who started the work in us will be faithful to complete it (Phil 1:6), certain that the outcome is of the Lord (115:3), and certain that we are to seek His Kingdom and we'll be provided for (Matt 6:33).

Now this is not an exhaustive list of certainties but it is enough to trust the Lord of all certainty. This knowledge should keep us humble, but help us struggle against materialism (which was hard for me in a place so nice as Boca Grande), anxiety, and despair.