“Searching for Certainty: Finding God in the Disruptions of Life” by Shelly Miller
We are experiencing a time best described by many as unparalleled, stressful, disconnected, and uncertain. There is a yearning for “normal”- whatever that looked like to each of us. Holding onto glimmers of hope, our faith, and the promises of certainty in God is what can sustain us.
In Shelly Miller’s most recent book, “Searching for Certainty,” she envelopes us in her words, like a warm hug when we need it most. She discusses moments throughout her life where uncertainty was prominent, but the reminders of God’s certainty were evident and purposeful. Her paralleled story, along with the Exodus story, reminds us, the reader, that uncertainty has weaved its way throughout history, all the way to beginning with God’s chosen people.
“The certainty of God’s love is a humbling realization; a revelation on how quickly we can be led by the fear of uncertainty to assume the worst will be our life sentence. Wandering in the desert for forty years broke the Israelites’ dependence on the predictable life patterns they’d grown accustomed to while enslaved in Egypt. But wandering through the wilderness wasn’t aimless, careless, casual, or irresponsible; no, quite the opposite. God was leading the Israelites into the certainty of freedom and abundance.”
During times of uncertainty, we can be assured of God’s work within us. He continues to provide for us in ways that we don’t always understand or immediately acknowledge. As we reflect over the past nine months, we can find God in the disruptions, we could not have experienced alone.
Included in the book is Shelly Miller’s photography and poetry. Each chapter ends with a practice that provides for reflection, engaging, and meditating with scripture and prayer. The story is about her life. She shared with her online community that God gave her the voice to write about uncertainty because she experienced a time where certainty in God was her foundation. Just a few short weeks after this book launched, on November 1, 2020, Shelly was united in eternity with our Heavenly Father.
“When you become a listener of life rather than a responder to life, you break through facades of self-protection and discover the real self that God has been protecting since he created you.”
So, during a time that has us convinced that we live in uncertain times, be assured of God’s certainty in your life. This beautiful book may help bring light to areas that you are feeling disconnected from.
Click here to pick up your copy of this book
written by Joanna Polarek, Resource Coordinator, SLD, USA East
