Life can feel uncertain sometimes, financially, emotionally, health-wise, relationships, all kinds of things.
Do you think your faith has changed the way you deal with uncertainty or worry compared to before?
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Yes, where I used to seek guidance from casting runes, or trying to will things into happening, I now just say, Gods will be done, and wait and see without worry.
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If nothing else, I can confide in God who knows it all anyways. He is with me in the circumstance, knows how it is and knows how it will be. My faith gives me hope and my hope is by His love for me. The child of God is never alone. The uncertainty is still there because I don’t know how it will turn out. But I know He knows and that’s enough to carry me through it.
I don’t know how people without God in their life even make it through.
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Faith fluctuating?
Scripture repeatedly commands believers not to remain unstable, immature, tossed about, or wavering, but rather to grow, be strengthened, stand firm, abound, and persevere in faith. Both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek New Testament use rich covenantal and theological vocabulary to describe steadfastness in trusting God.
In the Old Testament, one of the primary Hebrew verbs connected to firmness in faith is אָמַן (ʾāman), from which we derive the word “amen.” The verb carries the sense of being firm, reliable, established, or faithful. In the Hiphil stem it often means “to believe” or “to trust.”
Habakkuk declares:
“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.” — Habakkuk 2:4 (ESV)
The Hebrew word for “faith” here is אֱמוּנָה (ʾĕmûnāh), meaning steadfastness, fidelity, firmness, or faithfulness. The righteous man is not characterized by fluctuation, but by enduring covenant trust.
Likewise in Isaiah:
“If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” — Isaiah 7:9 (ESV)
This verse contains a wordplay on אָמַן (ʾāman):
im lōʾ taʾămînû kî lōʾ tēʾāmēnû
Literally:
“If you do not believe, you will not be established.”
Faith and stability are inseparably linked.
The Psalms also repeatedly speak against spiritual instability. David says:
“He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.” — Psalm 62:2 (ESV)
The Hebrew verb מוֹט (môṭ) means “to totter,” “slip,” or “be shaken.” The faithful man is one who is not spiritually unstable.
Psalm 1 contrasts the rooted righteous man with the unstable wicked:
“He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season.” — Psalm 1:3 (ESV)
The imagery is covenantal permanence and spiritual rootedness, not fluctuation.
Jeremiah likewise rebukes trusting in man instead of remaining steadfast in God:
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water.” — Jeremiah 17:7–8 (ESV)
The Hebrew verb בָּטַח (bāṭaḥ) means “to trust securely,” “to rely confidently.” Biblical faith is not bare intellectual assent, but settled reliance upon Yahweh.
Moving into the New Testament, the dominant Greek noun for faith is πίστις (pistis), meaning faith, trust, fidelity, or conviction. The corresponding verb is πιστεύω (pisteuō), “to believe” or “to entrust oneself to.”
The apostles repeatedly command believers to increase and mature in faith rather than remain unstable.
Paul writes:
“So then, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith.” — Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV)
The verb “established” is βεβαιούμενοι (bebaioumenoi), from βεβαιόω (bebaioō), meaning “to make firm,” “confirm,” or “strengthen.” Faith is to become fixed and grounded.
Similarly:
“Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.” — 2 John 8 (ESV)
And Paul exhorts:
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” — 1 Corinthians 16:13 (ESV)
“Stand firm” is στήκετε (stēkete), from στήκω (stēkō), meaning “to stand fast,” “persevere,” or “remain stationary.” The imagery is military steadfastness against opposition.
Ephesians explicitly condemns doctrinal instability:
“So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.” — Ephesians 4:14 (ESV)
“Tossed to and fro” translates κλυδωνιζόμενοι (kludōnizomenoi), evoking a storm-tossed sea. Spiritual immaturity produces instability; maturity produces firmness.
James is even more explicit concerning wavering faith:
Jas 1:6 But R13let him ask in faith, R14with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like R15a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. — James 1:6 (ESV)
The verb “doubting” is διακρινόμενος (diakrinomenos), meaning wavering, hesitating, or being divided within oneself.
The author of Hebrews repeatedly urges perseverance:
“For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” — Hebrews 3:14 (ESV)
“Firm” here is βεβαίαν (bebaian), again from βέβαιος (bebaios), meaning steadfast, secure, reliable.
Peter commands growth directly:
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” — 2 Peter 3:18 (ESV)
“Grow” is αὐξάνετε (auxanete), from αὐξάνω (auxanō), meaning to increase, enlarge, or mature.
Paul prays similarly:
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment.” — Philippians 1:9 (ESV)
“Abound” is περισσεύῃ (perisseuē), meaning to overflow or increase abundantly.
He also commends the Thessalonians:
2Th 1:3 R2We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,N1 as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
The Greek is ὑπεραυξάνει (hyperauxanei), literally “grows exceedingly.”
Perhaps the clearest warning against fluctuation appears in Ephesians and James together: believers are not to be spiritually unstable, double-minded, tossed by every doctrinal wind, or divided in conviction.
James writes:
“He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” — James 1:8 (ESV)
“Double-minded” is δίψυχος (dipsychos), literally “two-souled,” while “unstable” is ἀκατάστατος (akatastatos), meaning restless, disorderly, or inconsistent.
By contrast, Scripture repeatedly calls believers to be:
rooted (ἐρριζωμένοι, errizōmenoi) — Colossians 2:7
steadfast (ἑδραῖοι, hedraioi) — Colossians 1:23
immovable (ἀμετακίνητοι, ametakinētoi) — 1 Corinthians 15:58
established (βέβαιοι, bebaioi) — Hebrews 3:14
mature (τέλειοι, teleioi) — James 1:4
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J.