Certainty - In An Uncertain World

                                       Wrinkled Brows .....

Certainty:  Belief which is based upon a thorough examination of all evidence.

"...but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes."
                                          ~Benjamin Franklin

We are just home from Ireland and once again we have had the experience of knowing the world a little better, and from a bit wider perspective, than we did prior to this trip.

In upcoming posts, I will regale readers with some of our adventures while visiting the Emerald Isle.

But today, this first day home, my thoughts turned to another island nation, Japan.  We had only been in our hotel in Dublin a few hours, when the first reports of the terrible earthquake in Japan began to come in.

Over the course of the next ten days, while we toured with fellow fortunates, enjoying the wonders of that beautiful place, we also watched each morning or evening the grim reports of devastation from the other side of the world.

Earthquake, tsunami, nuclear melt down - whole trains disappearing, whole towns wiped off the face of the map ... while we were off to see another castle that had stood for a thousand years.

It was very disconcerting, mind-boggling, really; and I kept thinking that when those people awoke that morning they were going about their lives as usual, not knowing that everything was about to change for them - forever.

That is the nature of the world we live in - uncertain.  There are no guarantees that life will turn out as we planned or hoped that it would.  That does not mean that we should not plan or hope, for God gave us the ability to do both and, I believe, He expects us to use both for good.

But there is really only one way to deal with uncertainty and that is with faith in God.
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They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.  John 17:8b NIV (from the prayer Jesus prayed to the Father for believers)