Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
When Trusting God is Difficult
Trust in God can sometimes be difficult. We may struggle to trust Him and when it doesn’t seem that He is hearing us, we struggle to keep trusting Him when we don’t get an answer fast enough.
What exactly makes trusting God so difficult?
Trusting God means we believe in that which we cannot see and sometimes may not understand. We may never understand many of the things that happen in our lives. We cannot comprehend with our human minds how and why some things happen, and the hard part is that we need to accept that we won’t be able to understand. But we can still trust. We can trust God without having to understand it all.
Trusting God is literally against our human nature. We like to have control and when something goes wrong, we instantly start trying to fix it. Trying to fix our own problems can literally exhaust us. Just the weight of carrying it in our hearts and on our minds can crush us over time. And we don’t have to. He wants us to give it to Him.
Trusting God means that we have to admit that we are not in control of our lives. We can admit that we cannot do this and we can let go. We can trust Him to be the Sovereign Heavenly Father that He wants to be to us.
Trust is found in our unswerving belief that the God of Heaven will indeed work on our behalf to bring His perfect will for our lives into being. – Van Houser
Just Trust God
We hear people say all the time “Just trust God.” If you are in the middle of a long season of waiting, and you have absolutely been trusting God with every breath, those words feel anything but comforting. In fact, these very words that were meant in love can make you feel that maybe you have been doing this trust thing all wrong and maybe this hardship or trial, or long season of waiting is all your fault. Maybe other people on the outside looking in think you are doing this all wrong. Maybe they think you are not really trusting Him because you are where you are, and it must be your own doing.
We need to be careful when we tell others to “Just trust God” so flippantly. We need to not assume that they are not trusting Him. It is entirely possible to trust Him with every second of the day, for days on end, and still be in the middle of a difficult season.
Suffering does automatically mean that someone is not doing what they are supposed to be doing or that they are not living their life right or seeking God’s direction. For many reasons, God allows us to go through difficult passages in life and sometimes remain there. Maybe it is for our growth – or for someone else. During this time, we usually develop a whole new understanding of trust and leaning into Him.
Trust is not something we close our eyes, turn around three times, and open our eyes expecting something magical to have happened. Trust is an ongoing, day by day, moment by moment, breath by breath thing. Some seasons will be easier to rest in that trust. Some seasons will tether us tighter to Him.
All seasons of trust are about what happens in us during that time, rather than waiting on what God will do for us. Seasons of waiting and trust are seasons of transformation and growth.
With every moment of trust, we put in Him, our faith grows and even if our requests or desires are not granted, if we burrow deeper and deeper into who God really is, we will find so much more than we could ever want or imagine. He is everything we need and trusting in Him, resting in Him and running to Him will give us peace we cannot find anywhere else.
If you are trusting and waiting, don’t stop believing. He is faithful to work all things out for your good. I like to say that there is no “earthly way” for these problems to be worked out, and there is not. But there is a heavenly way and God’s got this. He has resources and ways that we cannot imagine, and He wants to work it all for our good. Trust Him.
