The Unknown

“Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

Some of you may remember the words of Captain Kirk that opened up every original Star Trek program for the three years it ran on television in the 60’s.

Most of us have a fascination with the unknown and love to adventure with television and movie characters that go where no person has gone before.

We like to watch Indiana Jones movies, or more recent flicks like Intersteller, where former NASA pilot Joseph Cooper, played by Matthew McConaughey, is sent on a dangerous mission through a wormhole, then across the galaxy to find a new planet for mankind to live on.

Riveting.

So why is it that when the unknown enters reality, and meets us face to face, we don’t like it?

It makes us anxious.

Worried.

We scramble to avoid it.

And when God says, “Take my hand. I want to lead you into uncharted territory,” we often bolt our doors and hide under the covers, afraid to embrace the mystery.

Perhaps the unknown is staring you in the face right now.

A lost job.

A move.

A financial crisis.

Illness.

What unknown are you dealing with?

Maybe all you want to do is cry, and turn into a pile of mush. I know. I’ve been there recently.

As difficult as it is, we Christians have to trust God with our lives. His plans for us are not to harm us. They are to provide a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

God has a history of calling his people into uncharted territory. He did it with Abram. He did it with Moses. He did it with his disciples, and he did it with his Son. In all cases, they were never alone. God was their guide through their encounters with the unknown. He takes us there, so we are forced to rely on him, and no other.

The next time you encounter the unknown, soak yourself in the promises of God.

In Psalm 37:23-24 it says, “The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.”

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

“Your righteousness God, reaches to the heavens, you have done great things. Who is like you, God? Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again” (Psalm 71:19-20).

We are not alone in the unknown. There is always a reason why God allows us to go there. We just have to trust, and embrace the future he has laid out for us on the other side.