Dear friend,

You don’t need clarity to move forward—sometimes clarity only comes after you take the step. That’s the tension we wrestle with: wanting certainty but being asked to walk by faith.

Control. Certainty. Answers. Clarity. These are the things we all search for. It’s natural. Sometimes we find it, and sometimes we feel like they have abandoned us. You’ve prayed. You’ve hoped. You’ve dreamed, and even begged God for an answer, just one sign. I know.

That sign might come, and it might not. And when it doesn’t, I know the silence can make you question whether faith is still worth exercising. There are seasons of assurance and then there are times when it feels like everything has gone dark or silent inside and around you.

THE PROBLEM

Today, you might find yourself in a moment or a season where the next step is unclear. Life will not let you see around the next corner. But although it is said that seeing is believing, maybe this time believing has to precede seeing. That’s what faith is.

You don’t need to have all the answers to go forward. And you don’t need to see everything that’s coming ahead to proceed. You need to trust your resilience, your adaptability, and your ability to respond constructively to both the good and the challenges that may lie ahead. And, more certain than yourself, what you need is faith in God’s sovereignty.

REFRAME & REFLECT 

I know you don’t know. I know you want the answers. I know you want certainty of the outcome before you even start. However, the way you embrace the progress and your small steps forward might be all you need for now—a little faith in you and a little patience and trust in time.

What if everything you need is on the other side of the unknown? What if this time, clarity is meant to be discovered? What if this next level of your life requires some sweaty equity as you grapple through the unknown? What if the answers you are looking for are buried in the process, in the unknown?

This time, there may be no shortcuts, no guidebook, no message from the other side. This time, you might have to leap into the unknown, embracing it as a gift that helps you shape and discover something within you. Maybe you need to step out of the boat even when you don’t know how deep the water is.

This time, progress and success might be connected to your willingness to surrender and offer up control.

THE TRUTH ABOUT UNCERTAINTY

It would be wonderful to have all the answers. I’d prefer it too. Having the blueprint, the timeline, and the “here’s what comes next” might make life so much easier. Often, we don’t get all those answers and we have to learn to accept that life rarely gives us that clarity upfront.

A huge portion of our lives is spent living in the in-between: the stretch of road where the destination is blurry and the next step is unclear.

Every day is the tension to enjoy the process and at the same time want all the answers, now. And it is hard to accept that sometimes things need time to bake, grow, or marinate. We want time to season our food, but we don’t always want the same for us.

Life might be nothing more than combinations of seasons of “I don’t know”, “now I know”, “because I now know”, “oh, wow, I thought I knew”, and “I don’t need to know.”

Truth is, no amount of planning, strength, or confidence can completely erase these moments of life. These moments awaken the need for faith, clinging to hope while feeling for the next moment of certainty.

WHY WE FEEL LOST EVEN WHEN WE’RE DOING WELL

You can be strong and still unsure. You can be talented and still lost. You can be successful and still question everything.

Your moments of uncertainty aren’t failures—they are simply the natural growing pains of someone figuring out who they are. These seasons are also gifts as they reveal strength you didn’t know you had, lessons you didn’t know you needed to learn, and pain you didn’t know you needed to experience for your own growth. The unknown may stretch you but it will never kill you.

Sometimes the unknown feels like a waiting room, and sometimes it feels like a wilderness. But both are part of the process.

FINDING PEACE IN THE UNKNOWN

Life unfolds in pieces, not full pictures. Sometimes the only thing you know for sure is that you aren’t done becoming who you’re meant to be.

Once you accept not having all the answers as a part of life, the process becomes easier to embrace. You’re not meant to have all the answers in advance. You are not doing anything wrong; it is just how life works.

In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t actually matter that you don’t have everything figured out. Here’s what you need to know:

Know who you are, what you carry, what you’re capable of, that you are resilient, and that you will get where you’re meant to go—even if you don’t know how yet.

Please remember this… 

Your greatness is not dependent on certainty. Your worth is not tied to a plan. Your future is not limited by your current clarity. You don’t need all the answers to move forward. You just need one truth to hold onto: You will figure it out. You always do.

#notestoyou is a series of blog posts for when you need to hear an encouraging word from a friend. It is a little something to lift you up on the journey. I pray you find a spark of energy, a healing word, or a gentle reminder of the awesomeness inside you from these words.