Come now [and pay attention to this], you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and carry on our business and make a profit.” [14] Yet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen in your life tomorrow. [What is secure in your life?] You are merely a vapor [like a puff of smoke or a wisp of steam from a cooking pot] that is visible for a little while and then vanishes [into thin air]. [15] Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and we will do this or that.”

James 4:13-15 AMP

I am a planner. My friends have often told me that once I get excited about an idea, I’m like a bullet train; it’s very hard to change my course.

But what I often forget when I’m charging ahead with my plans (as the Bible addresses in James 4) is that I don’t have as much control over my life as I like to believe. Unexpected changes will come; what’s more valuable than any of my plans is my ability to trust God in times of uncertainty. 

Several years ago, life stopped me in my tracks when my husband went into the ICU unexpectedly. What started as a quick doctor’s appointment turned into a trip to the hospital because his oxygen was dangerously low. The next several days were touch-and-go, with many moments of not knowing whether he would make it.

Everything in my life changed on a dime. Each day was new and unknown, and the only thing I could count on was my relationship with God. As James 4 says, I learned to ask myself, “What is really secure in my life?” 

Thankfully, my husband recovered, and as difficult as this experience was, I am grateful for the lessons it taught me. If I have a deep trust in God, I can be flexible and adaptable to whatever comes my way. I don’t have to be afraid of uncertainty or cling to my plans. I can adjust to change with confidence because I know that God’s plans are bigger than mine. 

How does God help us in times of uncertainty?

Dealing with change can be difficult for us. Have you ever felt overwhelmed with stress when your carefully scheduled day was unexpectedly disrupted? Have you ever felt despair or resentment when your life turned out differently than you thought it would? Maybe you’ve held tightly to something that wasn’t good for you—a job, a relationship, or even a habit—simply because letting go felt too scary.

These are all signs that we are struggling to deal with change and uncertainty. 

That’s okay, because when we walk with God, he develops in us the ability to be flexible and adaptable, to adjust to change with confidence and faith. 

But the LORD’s plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken.

Psalm 33:11 NLT

God is bigger than we are, and his plans can never be shaken. He works through everything for our good, even unexpected changes and disruptions (Romans 8:28). Developing a deep trust in God and a strong faith in his good plans makes us adaptable and flexible, able to handle anything that comes. 

How do we trust God in times of uncertainty?

We can adjust to uncertainty well by sharing our real thoughts and feelings with God, then believing his promises, trusting his plans, developing spiritual dreams, and valuing relationships more than our personal success. 

1. Open up your heart to God.

An open heart is a flexible heart. If we want to trust God in all circumstances—even uncertain, changing ones—we need to tell him what we really think and feel.

Have faith in Him in all circumstances, dear people. Open up your heart to Him; the True God shelters us in His arms. 

Psalm 62:8 Voice

God wants a real friendship with us, where we’re honest about what we think, feel, and desire. This is what it means to open up our hearts to him, and we can’t be truly faithful in “all circumstances” unless we have real conversations with him. 

When I was in high school and college, I went through several painful breakups with guys who all happened to be student athletes. In my attempt to protect myself from pain, I swore to myself that I would rather go to my grave as a single woman than date another athlete. 

Then I met Sam. He had a strong relationship with God, and we quickly became close friends. I could see we made a great team. 

But he was an athlete. Not just an athlete, a professional athlete. 

Oh no, I remember thinking to myself. How is this going to work?

As my feelings grew, so did my inner conflict. I didn’t know what to do until I read some of the prayers in the book of Psalms and realized I could pour out my feelings to God. Confused, I laid out all my thoughts and desires before God and even questioned God about why he had put this guy in my life. 

Through those honest prayers, God opened my eyes. I realized I needed to let go of my rigid mindset. Sam strengthened my faith and brought out the best in me. He may have been an athlete, but he was the guy I needed. 

Sam and I have now been happily married for more than two decades. God has worked through us in ways I never could have imagined, from building our family to serving our community. I am so grateful that I opened my heart to God so that he could help me move forward with faith. 

When we cling to our own plans, we can miss what God is doing and make decisions that hurt us in the long run. We can trust God in times of uncertainty by opening our hearts in prayer so that he can lead us in the right direction. 

2. Believe God’s promises. 

We can embrace and even thrive in times of uncertainty when we believe God’s promises to take care of us. 

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

Matthew 19:29 NIV

The life of following Jesus is, in many ways, a life of uncertainty. It’s  a life of being willing to give up anything and go anywhere for the sake of God and his kingdom. I don’t think that Jesus is telling us to walk out right now and give up our houses. I think he is saying that we need to trust him; when he asks us to leave something behind, it’s because he has something better—even if we can’t see it right now. 

This passage has helped me to be flexible and adaptable through all kinds of changes in my life. I trained to be a vocalist since I was in elementary school, and when I was in college I was preparing to pursue a career as a professional singer. But then something changed. 

I wanted to use my life for something more, for helping people and making a difference in the world. 

Changing my career path meant uncertainty. I had to redefine who I was. I held onto promises like this one in Matthew 19—if I left behind my singing career so that I could prioritize God and his purposes for me, he would give me back a hundred times as much. 

And he has. I love what I do now, running leadership training programs for young women and inspiring them to make a difference in the world. I still get to sing all the time, sometimes at some of the biggest venues in the Bay Area. But I do it for a spiritual purpose, to serve God rather than promoting myself, and it’s so much more fulfilling. God has given me back so much more than I left behind. 

At many points in our lives, God makes clear that we need to shift our plans, and that brings uncertainty. We may have had a certain plan for our career or future, but sometimes it starts to become clear that it’s not the best fit for us or for our faith. 

In these moments, we have a choice: will we rigidly cling to our plans, or will we be willing to let go and adapt? Believing in God’s promises will make us flexible, helping us navigate an unknown future with faith instead of fear. 

3. Trust God even when your path is nontraditional.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is one of the best examples of trusting God in times of uncertainty. Her path to motherhood was completely nontraditional, and it wasn’t easy. But she adapted by trusting God’s purpose for her life more than her own plans. And thank goodness she did! 

Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” [29] Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. [30] “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! [31] You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. [38] Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

Luke 1:28-31,38 NLT

Mary was a young woman engaged to be married—she had a plan for her life. Then God came to her with a new plan, and she pivoted quickly. She was “confused and disturbed,” but she adapted, trusting that God would carry her through.

Mary’s story is an especially relevant one for those of us who are parents. Raising kids brings many confusing and uncertain twists and turns. Mary teaches us that we can trust God even when our path (or our child’s path) is nontraditional. God’s path probably won’t be the easiest one, but it will be the best one, and it will lead to a rich and satisfying life (John 10:10).

When we feel “confused and disturbed” by disruptions to our plans, we can learn from Mary to trust God’s plans. She humbly trusted that she was part of God’s bigger plan, describing herself as a “servant.” 

Like Mary, we can trust God even when our path is uncertain by believing that we are part of God’s bigger plan, and our lives can make an eternal impact. 

4. Choose courage over comfort. 

The story of Nehemiah teaches us to embrace uncertainty by choosing courage over comfort. Although he was living in captivity along with most of God’s people, Nehemiah had a comfortable life as the cupbearer to the king. But when an unexpected opportunity came to do something bigger than himself, he trusted God and stepped up. 

While I was in Susa, one of my brothers named Hanani and some other men came from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped captivity and still lived in Judah. I also asked them about the city of Jerusalem. [3] They answered, “Nehemiah, the Jews who escaped captivity and are in the land of Judah are in much trouble. They are having many problems and are full of shame because the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” [4] When I heard this about the people of Jerusalem and about the wall, I sat down and cried. I was very sad. I fasted and prayed to the God of heaven for several days. [5] Then I prayed this prayer: “LORD, God of heaven, you are the great and powerful God. You are the God who keeps his agreement of love with people who love you and obey your commands. 

[11] So, Lord, please listen to my prayer. And listen to the prayers of all your other servants who are happy to honor you. Help me today as I ask the king for help. Make him pleased with me so that he will be kind and give me what I ask for.” At that time, I was the king’s wine servant.

Nehemiah 1:2-5,11 ERV

When Nehemiah’s brother and friends came to him with a problem, Nehemiah had a choice. Would he disrupt his whole life to respond to this vision God put on his heart, or would he remain inflexible and unwilling to leave his comfort zone?

If we keep reading, we see that Nehemiah responded to the call with courage. He became the leader of the charge to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. The project was full of uncertainty, but Nehemiah found the courage to face every unexpected obstacle by trusting God. He believed that God had chosen him, and God would answer his prayers. 

Uncertainty is not always bad; sometimes it comes from a good opportunity, like an opportunity to lead or take on a new responsibility. But we might pass these opportunities up if we don’t know how to trust God in uncertain situations.

5. Value relationships over rules and ambition.

The apostle Paul is a great example of trusting God in times of uncertainty. He became flexible and adaptable because he valued his relationship with God and relationships with others more than anything else in his life.

I’ve been broken, lost, depressed, oppressed, and weak that I might find favor and gain the weak. I’m flexible, adaptable, and able to do and be whatever is needed for all kinds of people so that in the end I can use every means at my disposal to offer them salvation.

1 Corinthians 9:22 Voice

Paul didn’t always have this flexible attitude. Before he was a Christian, he was a rigid religious man, silencing anyone who didn’t act the way he thought they should (Acts 26:4-18). He was passionate about his rules, not about his personal relationship with God.  

But after he became a Christian, Paul completely changed his life. He valued his relationship with God more than anything, and his greatest passion was helping other people get to know God (Philippians 3:5-8). He knew that God had chosen him for this purpose, and this made him incredibly flexible. Someone else was feeling broken? He’d embrace his own brokenness, too. Someone else felt lost and depressed? He’d sit with them in it. He viewed everything that happened in his life as an opportunity to help someone else. 

The book of Acts in the Bible tells us of all kinds of uncertain situations that Paul found himself in—from being falsely accused and put on trial to living through a shipwreck. Through all these situations, his faith stayed strong because he saw God working through him to help people. 

When we value our relationship with God over our personal success, we will become flexible and adaptable. We will be strong and faithful through times of uncertainty because we will see our challenges as opportunities to connect with people. 

Next Steps

Why Change Is So Scary — and How to Unlock Its Potential | Maya Shankar | TED

In her TedTalk, “Why Change Is So Scary — and How to Unlock Its Potential,” Dr. Maya Shankar shares why uncertainty is so scary, along with some conversations she had with those who overcame adversity by embracing change. Through these conversations, she offers three questions each of us can ask ourselves when facing something unexpected. We can look at these questions through a spiritual lens to help us turn to God in the middle of uncertainty.

 If you’re going through an unexpected change, take out a notebook and answer these questions:

How might this situation change how I define myself? Do I have a growth mindset or fixed mindset? Do I define myself based on my abilities and accomplishments, or based on how God sees me? Am I willing to fail and learn from it, or am I expecting perfection? How can I view myself the way God views me?

How might this situation change what I’m capable of? How is God trying to help me handle challenges differently? What might be opportunities for growth through this uncertainty?

How might this situation change what I value? What do I value now? Up to this point, have I valued healthy habits like going to God and friends for help? Are my values aligned with God’s? If not, how can I change my values in the face of this challenge? How is this change exposing what I care about, and how can I adapt?