Every human being longs for certainty. The certainty most commonly desired is a good life according to human standards: a healthy body, a whole and harmonious family, stable finances, and a safe, comfortable living situation. To achieve such certainty, people struggle hard to avoid illness, disaster, poverty, failure, and insecurity. All their energy is poured out so that life will run according to their expectations and predetermined goals.
Aware of their own limitations, human beings then seek strength outside themselves. This is where religion—in a general sense—becomes a means of obtaining certainty. Whatever it is called—God, deity, or some other power—it serves as a support, making tomorrow feel more secure. From experience, people learn that many events occur beyond prediction and calculation. The future cannot be fully penetrated. Therefore, people want to know what will happen tomorrow. This need gives rise to practices such as divination, occultism, and various other attempts to seek certainty.
Believers, however, must understand one fundamental truth: this world is a fallen world. There is no true certainty in it. The only absolute certainty in this world is uncertainty itself. Why is this so? Because this world is not the world that God designed initially, desired, and intended. The all-wise God did not create the world with a broken system like the one that exists now.
Indeed, some people appear “fortunate”—the wealthy, the nobility, or those who live in times and places without war and disaster—so that the world seems almost like Paradise. Yet such conditions are rare and temporary. Ironically, it is precisely this comfortable situation that can become a dangerous trap, because it makes people feel that they do not need God. When people think sufficiently, securely, and capably, they stop correcting themselves. Yet true life is not the present life, but the life that is to come.
This is why Jesus said that it is difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It is not wealth itself that is the problem, but the power—money, connections, influence—that makes people feel they do not need God. Psalm 73 describes this reality sharply. The wicked appear carefree, healthy, and increasing in wealth, as though their lives are secure forever. Yet the psalmist also realizes that all of this ends suddenly. They are placed in “slippery places,” and in an instant, they vanish like a dream that disappears when one awakens.
If this is the case, then a life that is uncertain by worldly standards is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, such uncertainty can be a grace, because it preserves an awareness of eternity. Those who are not swept away by worldly pleasures are more easily directed toward the Kingdom of God. However, this does not mean that people may live carelessly or irresponsibly. Uncertainty is not an excuse for negligence, but a call to rely entirely on the Lord.