Bible Stories For Big Kids
  • Home
  • Introduction
  • About Karina
  • Cover Art
  • Media
  • Blog
  • Store
  • Connect
  • Sample Story

Certainty - What Certainty?

2/5/2015

0 Comments

 
What an uncertain place the world is in at the moment, and as for Australian politics the only certainty is uncertainty. No longer it seems, can a political party assume it will last more than one term and if it does survive, then an absolute majority is becoming less and less likely. Oh well, that is democracy and people have to adjust to the change.

I am planning a big birthday bash later this year, but am not assuming that it will definitely happen, such is my uncertainty of the future. Already this year, health issues have turned around the lives and futures of people I know and it makes me very cautious of expecting things to happen in a way that I have planned.  

However, in amongst all this uncertainty (which does make life interesting), the Bible has some wonderful promises  which re-assure us of God’s love and care for us and I am sure that many Christians would come up with a huge variety of favourite Bible verses, if asked.  Amongst a background of the gloom and doom of the daily news cycle, the other day I read again from 1 Peter 1: 3. “By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.......”  How certain is that! Even if part of this inheritance is in the future, we know we can trust God to fulfil it, based not on warm fuzzies, but in the knowledge that God has fulfilled his promises in the past, both in the lives of the people of the Bible and in our own lives. That to me is faith.   

I love the story of Abraham. God gave him four promises, but he only lived to see one fulfilled - the promise that God would bless him. With only one heir, how could God possibly make a great nation from him and even give that nation its own land? Yet Abraham believed that God would do this and Abraham only had those occasional encounters with God to sustain his faith – I guess there were times when he would look back on those encounters to gain re-assurance.

It would be another 700 years before God came down to rescue his people in Egypt and lead them to that promised land. The final promise that through Abraham, all peoples would be blessed – that took 2000 years to be fulfilled with the coming of the Messiah or Jesus Christ.

The writer to the Hebrews describes faith as “ the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” ( my italics) and later regarding Sarah’s having a child later in life, “Abraham trusted God to keep his promise” ( a footnote also  attributes this comment to Sarah).

So much of modern life is uncertain – death and taxes being exempt as the joke says, but not all that uncertainty is negative. Advances in medicine for example, no longer make many illnesses a death sentence and for that we can be extremely grateful. However, in amongst all the uncertainties of life – good or bad – Job had the answer – “I know that my redeemer lives” (Job 19:25)

“The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need.” ( Psalm 23:1)

       

0 Comments

    I have always loved telling Bible stories, especially those from the Old Testament. For the past 25 years I have been teaching Religious Education in the local State School.  Each time I revisit these stories, I still find there's something more for me to learn. That's what I find so refreshing about the bible. 

    Karina Shim, Author
    Bible Stories For Big Kids

    Archives

    May 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.