The Unknown

Genesis 15:13 - Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.”

Beneath your feet the ground begins to move. You try to find something to latch onto, but nothing is within reach. Everything seems far away like as if you’re on a desert island and the sand is slowly slipping down all around you.
 
You open your eyes and the sandstorm swirls all around you making your eyes sting. The visibility is almost zero. You hold up your hand and cannot make out its edges.
 
You open your mouth to cry out for help, but your voice gets swallowed up in the sound of the raging sandstorm.
 
Nothing seems real. Nothing seems to makes sense. Nothingness opens its mouth and swallows you.
 
Uncertainty. The unknown. Life is like that sandstorm whirling all around us. So few things are sure. So few things stay the same, like the shifting sand on a desert island.
 
Your uncertainty feeds your anxieties. It moves them into a giant, shapeless sand dune. Fear wants a way of escape, but depression stopped caring a long time ago.
 
It’s important when battling mental illness that some kind of parameters are set up. It can be as simple as making a list of things to do each day. That way you have something to work towards finishing.
 
Leaving a small calendar sitting out on your desk or on a kitchen counter can help you make plans as you write on it the dates of doctor’s appointments or those with a therapist. Though an appointment may get rescheduled, you’ll still be able to have an idea of what you know is coming up.
 
It can also help to keep the furniture in your home in a set place. Knowing where things are in your home and keeping your list and calendar up to date can provide some solid ground to walk on.
 
Find some other methods to deal with uncertainty in the article, “7 Ways to Deal with Uncertainty So You Can Be Happier and Less Anxious,” on tinybuddha.com, such as replacing expectations with plans and preparing for difficult possibilities.
 
One thing you can know is that what God says is certain. If he says he will do something, he will. Take a look at the Bible verse above. Though the Israelites were going into exile because they had disobeyed God over and over, they could know for certain that they wouldn’t live in an unknown land forever. When the four hundred years were up, God would rescue them. God can rescue you from your fears of the unknown and help you find some certainty in a world that is ever changing.

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