At the peak of summer’s heat, I have to adapt. Tank tops, walking shorts, and a water bottle are my go-to gear. But as I stood in line at a local food truck, the heat hit me on another level. A nearby canopy offered some relief.

I hope cool breezes blow regularly in your corner of the world. Perhaps summer rain has drenched your plans. Maybe you’ve also spent time under a canopy or two. But even with its challenges, summer weather is not nearly as complex as the globe it sits upon.

As we adjust to life’s challenges, change can quickly bring us to new and necessary conclusions. In line at the food truck that day, moving to the shade was a sign of my surrender. The heat won. But before the season ends, is there something we need to surrender to God this summer?

Maybe an invitation to an adventure is still waiting for our response. Perhaps a struggle with an awkward conversation nags us with a need to resolve it.

To help us explore the possibilities, I’m grateful for a newly released book by Abby McDonald, Surrendering Certainty, Hearing God Today by Letting Go of Tomorrow. The title intrigues me. In the context of my Christian faith, words like “sure,” “infallible,” and “absolute” echo eternal facts.  God is God. Jesus saves. The Holy Spirit empowers, comforts, and reveals. The Bible is true.

But Abby doesn’t prompt readers to abandon the tenets of their faith. Instead, she takes readers on an exploration of their faith.  A central theme of the book is learning to hear God’s voice and follow His direction (yes, even when we are uncertain). Discussion questions at the end of each chapter guide readers into deeper reflection, whether they are reading alone or with a group.

There is plenty of insight and encouragement in each chapter. Here are just a few topics in the book:

• Open the door to a Future You Can’t See
• God’s Will for You Is Not a Multiple-Choice Test
• The Hidden Beauty of Every Misstep

While reading the book, I couldn’t help but think that while God is certainly knowable, He is also unpredictable. There’s no boxing Him in with our best intentions or a faulty perspective.

Although I have the precious principles of my faith pulsing through me, I still have to process life.

Navigating relationships and hardships may mean I need more patience. Cultivating dreams or linking purpose to plans may require me to have more courage. Any of these things can easily fill our minds. But how easily do we hand them over to God? But Abby reminds us, “Jesus is not a Shepherd who leaves the pasture and expects us to have all the answers. He is the shepherd who stays, who guides us, and intercedes for us. He never stops.”

With deep biblical insights, Abby McDonald helps readers to explores how to:

• Grow confidence that we can hear from God without second-guessing ourselves.
• Embrace our ability to make decisions as one of the biggest means for growing our faith.
• Release our false sense of security in tomorrow and equip ourselves with promises that are guaranteed.

Friend, whatever we’re feeling sure of or not so sure of this summer, I recommend Surrendering Certainty! As we choose to trust God, He already knows the outcome of every situation. He will faithfully meet us in it. Of that, we can be certain.

Get your copy of Surrendering Certainty here!

Abby McDonald is a writer, speaker, wife and mom whose work has been featured on (in)Courage, For Every Mom, Crosswalk, and more. She also writes for Proverbs 31 Ministries’ daily devotional, Encouragement for Today. Her passion is to empower women to grow in faith and hope, even when life is messy.

When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her wrangling her three kids and black lab while drinking copious amounts of coffee. Abby lives with her husband and three children in western Maryland. You can connect with her at abbymcdonald.org.