TRUSTING THE KNOWN GOD WITH AN UNKNOWN FUTURE

Naim Choi, RockPointe Intercultural Site Pastor

If you missed Stafford's To the Pointe update last week, you can read it here.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

Change is an inevitable part of life, and that includes life within the church. Whether it's a shift in ministry focus, updated structures, or simply the natural progression of time and growth, every church community will, at some point, walk through seasons of transition. These moments can stir up uncertainty and leave us wondering what’s ahead. When the future feels unclear, it’s easy to become discouraged or even fearful.

Change is difficult, especially when we don’t know what the future holds. But it’s in these very moments that God invites us to lean deeper into faith, to trust more fully in His promises, and to remember: He is still at work.

The early believers in Acts understood what it felt like to face sudden leadership transitions. After Jesus ascended into heaven, they were left without their Rabbi, Teacher, and Friend. Although they had heard His promise: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1:8), they had not yet seen it fulfilled. In the meantime, they waited in an upper room, confused, praying, and wondering what would come next (Acts 1:14).

Jesus was gone, and the future was unknown. And yet, God was preparing to move.

Periods of change may feel like an ending, but in God’s hands, they can often mark the beginning of a new chapter.

It’s perfectly okay to grieve. Paul wrote in Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” The bond between a pastor and congregation is sacred. It is built through baptisms, hospital visits, weddings, funerals, sermons, counselling sessions, and quiet prayers. Such relationships deserve both celebration and mourning when they change.

But it’s also important to hold on to hope. Our ultimate trust lies not in a leader but in Jesus, the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4), who never leaves us and never changes.

Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” This means that even in seasons of transition—when vision feels unclear and emotions run high—God is still present, still faithful, and still leading His church.

Clement of Rome, an early church leader writing to first-century believers, said: “Let us fix our gaze on the blood of Christ, and realize how precious it is to the Father… and how it was poured out for our salvation.”

Keep your gaze fixed on Christ. Through every season—whether steady or shifting—He is the unshakeable center of the church.

When a leader departs, it can feel as though the identity or direction of the church is in jeopardy. But remember: you, the people, are the church. God’s Spirit is in you, and the mission continues through you.

As Hudson Taylor, a missionary, said: “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”

Now is the time to pray together, worship together, and serve together. While responsibilities and roles may change, the heartbeat of the church, God’s love lived out in community, remains strong.

Hebrews 10:23–24 reminds us: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

Seasons change as Isaiah 43:19 declares: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” God is always doing something new—even in our uncertainty. The same God who worked through faithful servants in the past will continue. The church's story isn’t over; it’s unfolding.

As Corrie Ten Boom said: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

This church is in good hands, not only because of those who have faithfully led, but because of the God who never stops leading. Even when we don’t know the future, He does. And He is more than enough.

Elisabeth Elliot, who experienced deep loss and transition, once said: “God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.”

Just as the early church moved from confusion to clarity through the power of the Holy Spirit, so can we. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, and He is still empowering, building, and transforming. Let’s walk together with hope, unity, and trust in the One who holds our future.