Stepping Into the Unknown

My adventure to Africa begins in ten days.

I'm freaking out a little bit.

I dream about it every night and wake each morning needing a few deep breaths to slow down my heart. As I cross things to do off my list, new details come to mind and get added. I've been to a foreign country before, but not in a culture so different from my own.

I'm excited to learn and experience and see new things, but I admit the vast amount of unknowns scare me some. I don't know the people I'll be traveling with. I don't know what to expect when I get there. I don't know what will be asked of me. I don't know if my heart can take what God may show me. I don't know how to be away from my own people that long. I don't know how life works there. I don't know if I'll be able to communicate effectively.

So many unknowns.

But isn't that how all of life is? I cried leaving my kids in kindergarten because I didn't know what they'd encounter. I hardly slept the night before my first classes in college. I even have a hard time moving the furniture around in my house because what if the new arrangement has a weird vibe? Life constantly throws unknowns at us: health issues we don't know how to deal with, moving to a different community, kids growing up and leaving our watchful care, business decisions and their accompanying ramifications we can't predict . . . the list is endless.

How do we deal with these unknowns? How can I face them without constant fear?

I can't do it myself.

I remember Who goes with me. Always.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

Though I step into the unknown, I am never alone.

You aren't either, friend. No matter what you face, if you are a child of God, He will uphold you, strengthen you, help you in the days ahead, good or bad.

As Paul told Timothy, I know whom I have believed and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

I KNOW whom I believe. He is good and His ways are perfect, even when I don't understand them, even when they seem scary. So when I get on that plane in ten days, I'll remember WHO directs my steps, my days, my life. I'll focus on the One who loves me and has a perfect plan. I'll rest in His assurance that He'll be with me every step of the journey.

I pray you carry that same belief and trust, my friend, for when you do, stepping into the unknown might be easier.

I know whom I have believed. Do you? Press on, then, with the confidence of His presence. We are never alone.



Photo Credit: Tom Natt