How to hold on to faith in the midst of uncertainty

Let’s be real: we are coping with an abundance of ambiguity right now. 2020 taught us to live with open hands like we never have before. 

And with so much loss in the last year, we might (understandably) be struggling to hold on to our faith. Trusting God with our needs, and the needs of those we love, might feel harder than it did when 2020 dawned. 

So how do we hold on to faith as we look to the future? 

The answer is surprisingly simple:

Remembering. 

I genuinely don’t mean to offer reductionist suggestions. Or pat answers.

Rather, I believe the act of remembering is foundational to living a life of faith. 

When we recount the ways God has 

…it’s much easier to hold tightly to Him for the future. 

We see God instruct His people to engage in the act of remembering in both the Old and New Testaments. Two pivotal examples—though there are many others: 

• His telling the people to bring a stone from the bottom of the Jordan River and erect a monument for the purpose of never forgetting His parting of the waters: “So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” (Joshua 4:7 ESV)
• Jesus’ words at the last supper, instituting what we practice as communion, saying it should be done in remembrance: “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’” (Luke 22:19 ESV)

The opposite of faith isn’t doubt. 

It’s sight.

[F]or we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV)

We can’t see the future. We all have questions about how things will unfold in our individual and collective lives. That ambiguity requires faith. And when it feels difficult, He’s offered us a tool: remembering.

Reflect on the ways He’s sustained, provided, guided, and comforted you. (Begin keeping a journal and record His activity as a “monument” to revisit as the days, weeks and months go by.) And if you’re still struggling to see Him at work, ask someone how they’ve seen Him (if their life or yours).

Or simply open the pages of Scripture that catalog His faithfulness spanning millennia.

To walk in faith toward the future, look back and remember His good work in your life.