In life, uncertainty is guaranteed, but what matters most is how we face these moments and grow because of them.
Can you remember a moment in your life when you were suddenly surrounded by uncertainties? Did this happen when you started a new job, moved out to college, or started a relationship? Did it feel like your life was falling apart—that everything you were so sure about—suddenly failed to make sense?
In her BYU devotional address July 1, 2025, Associate Professor Dawan L. Coombs called these moments of spiritual, emotional, ideological, or religious uncertainty “wobbles” —and she shared how students can turn wobbles into experiences of “exponential growth.”
Remember Your Worth
Coombs began by sharing her “existential wobble.” In August of 2008, she had decided to get a PhD, acting on the counsel of the prophet Gordon B. Hinkley to gain more education. However, when she started her studies, she found a lot of inconsistency between her faith and the concepts and theories taught in her classes.
And, then, the farther she got in her studies, the more she wondered if pursuing her education meant giving up her righteous desire to become a wife and mother. Of this moment, she said, “I found myself questioning my worth, God’s promises for me, and—for the first time—my testimony.”
She acknowledged that wobbles often cause us to redefine ourselves by our accomplishments, jobs, relationships, and more. To get out of this spiral, she counseled listeners to remember who they are—children of God.
“It took time, but once I quit linking my value to everchanging characteristics and variables, and instead, rooted it in my identity as a child of God, I discovered that I could deal with failures and setbacks without questioning my worth,” Coombs said. “I still wobbled, but the focus of my wobbling centered on the challenges of graduate school, not my value as a person.”
Talk with Other Disciples
Coombs also recommended talking with those you trust: people “who love you and care about your eternal well-being.” During her “existential wobble,” Coombs reached out to professors, friends, family, ministering sisters, and many more for help. She found great comfort in these disciples, but the most important people to talk to, she said, were Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Little did she know that these divine beings could help her change her perspective from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Realizing that she could only control where her focus was—whether solely on how stuck she was in problems, or the growth she could achieve from them—Coombs made a conscious effort to stay in dialogue with Christ; and He surprised her. “I wanted Him to change my circumstances, but instead, He changed my heart, desires, strength, and understandings,” she said.
Trust the Plan
She acknowledged that it is hard to trust Heavenly Father, especially when it feels like He doesn’t give direct answers. “In these moments, wobble can result from being required to trust the process without knowing where the path will lead,” Coombs said.
However, Coombs testified that God will not leave us defenseless. God knew He was sending us to a fallen world full of uncertainty, so He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to atone for each of us. Coombs said, “The Savior’s atonement is the crucial piece, not just of the Plan, but of our plans.” When we come to Christ, Coombs said His atonement “fills the gap between where we are and where we need to be.”
This gap will come at inopportune times, creating wobble moments. However, Coombs stressed the importance of remembering your divine identity and your divine supporters. Though these moments of struggle are hard, involving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will provide a sense of stability we can’t find elsewhere. Coombs said, “Your Heavenly Father will turn your moments of existential wobble into times of exponential growth as you rely on the Savior and Him.”
Listen to Coombs’s full devotional address here.