Do you always understand the path God is leading? I don’t. It is especially hard trusting God in difficult times.
Is it okay to say I don’t always understand why God leads me in certain directions? Sorry if it’s not, but I just don’t always see His plan, understand His way, or trust what I can’t see.
Today, as we continue in our 40-day fast on being still and knowing God more, we will explore a question: Can you trust God when you don’t understand?
I struggle with Trusting God in Difficult Times
God often leads me into situations that are too hard to handle on my own. Frequently, I have no choice but to trust God with everything in my life.
But… I really wish I were independent and strong enough to handle them without His help!
He leaves me in seasons that are insane for way longer than I would prefer – so long that I grow weary and want to quit. Can you relate?
What I really dream of is a peaceful, self-sufficient life. The end of a fairy tale without all the drama in the beginning and middle.
Nowhere in Scripture does God promise us a happily ever after, fairy-tale Christian life. What God does say, over and over again, is “Be still and trust Me even when you don’t understand.”
But how can we really be still?
How can we really begin trusting God in difficult times?
True faith is trusting God in difficult times without understanding God or His plan. Share on XHow Do You Trust God When Life is Hard?
“The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want. He lets me lie down in green pastures; and He leads me beside the still and quiet waters. He refreshes and restores my soul (life)” (Psalm 23:1-3a AMP)
I can not overemphasize the importance of understanding the context of our verses in this study. Psalm 23 was written by King David. I find it inspiring that a man who suffered so much is our main source of learning how to be still.
I am in the middle of a Bible Study by Jennifer Rothschild called Psalm 23: The Shepherd with Me. It is fascinating to slow down and think through what it means that Jesus is our Good Shepherd and we are His needy, skittish, easily anxious sheep.
Do you think of yourself as needy and easily anxious?
If I’m very honest that describes the real me. The me I don’t let others see – behind my independent, perfectionist mask – is often anxious.
What I find comforting in the study is that it’s okay to be a needy sheep because we have a Good Shepherd. Learning how to trust God in any situation is about accepting that truth. I need God.
Learning how to trust God in any situation is about accepting that truth. I need God. Share on XLetting Go and Trusting God
Psalm 23 shows a theme that comforts me. It’s okay to trust God. Needing God is actually okay. God designed us to need HIM!
Understanding the truth and the roles as God created them is helpful to get us to trust Him more fully!
- The Shepherd’s job
- Guide me
- Lead me
- Feed me
- Refresh me
- Provide for me
- Protect me
- Defend me
- Preserve me for eternity
- The needy sheep’s job
- Follow God
- Obey God
- Trust God
- Be Still
Trusting God in hard times is not easy. But letting go of the need for control and trusting God comes more easily when we understand our roles!
Do You Have Faith in God During Hard Times?
Do you find yourself trying to take on some of the Shepherds’ job responsibilities?
Why do we take control or take the throne? I can’t speak for you, but some of my excuses are:
I’m just trying to help Him
Just trying to do my part
Trying to pull my own weight
Let’s be gut-level honest. When you take the Shepherds’ jobs is it really to help Him? Or if you look deeper is it a bid at control (mutiny for being the god of my own life)?
Did you find this 40-day Fast to Learn How to Be still mid-series?
Why Does God Put Us Through Hard Times?
Confession of a control freak.
It is hard to be dependent on others for anything. I hate to trust others to care for my needs. Leaving the chance of something being done wrong kills me. Guilty, I micromanage most things in life… even God. That is sin anyway I look at it.
God, in His divine planning, gives us situations that are harder than we can handle. Why? Why does God put us through hard times?
Maybe so we learn to depend on Him more fully? It’s a question, not a fact because I don’t know. I only know that the more difficult life is, the more I have to depend on God. What about you?
We may also face difficulties as a result of sin at times.
- My sin has consequences.
- Other sin splashes consequences on me.
- The Original Sin sent us into a tailspin of deprivation that impacts even the best life.
It’s important to also remember that not all difficult seasons are bad seasons.
- God prunes away things that are not bad but are not the best.
- We learn and grow through trials.
- Stress brings things to the surface that we were ignoring.
Some of the best things in my life came through hard seasons. My children are a great example of that. Labor and delivery were excruciating! Blessings came from those painful hours.
Trusting God or Understanding God is Hard
How can we apply Psalm 23? I mean it’s a nice thought, but can it be practically applied in our lives?
It is hard for ALL PEOPLE to trust God when we don’t understand what He is allowing into our lives. So we try to take on parts of His role.
Why do I try to take control away from God? I don’t trust Him.
You see, most of life has been hard and I wrestle with how to trust a God who allowed so much hurt in my past. When I come face to face with a need in my life I have this inward debate… maybe you can relate.
Finances are tight right now. I don’t know if we can pay all the bills on time this month.
‘Give this need to God in prayer and leave it with Him’ I tell myself.
‘Remember when you lived with relatives, homeless because finances got crazy?” rebukes doubt.
‘Remember the years you lived on food stamps and had to pray for every single need?’ critisizes fear.
‘Be Still. You can Trust God to provide,’ reminds the Holy Spirit.
The internal debate rages until I choose one of two paths
- I can surrender the need to God, trust Him, and be still as He works.
- Or I take control from God.
- Worry over the bills
- Try to find things to sell
- Seek out work I can do from home
- Stress out, creating daily anxiety attacks
I’ve lived it both ways and by far way #1 is the best path… but I still wrestle.
Why does God let bad things happen to Christian people walking with Him?
Can I really trust God with my needs this time?
How to Begin Trusting God in Difficult Times
This Psalm points us to the answer of how to trust God, our Good Shepherd when we don’t understand what He is allowing into our life.
What God says about difficult times is that they will come! Period. Hard seasons come and we can face them while trusting Him with these 3 steps.
- Accept
- It’s not your job to understand.
- Embrace
- Paths of righteousness will not be smooth and easy.
- Realize
- The path is not about you anyway.
1. Accept: It’s Not Our Job to Understand
It is crucial that we accept our role in life.
I am a sheep. You are a sheep.
God is the Shepherd. God is the one in control.
It’s not the sheep’s job to understand or control the direction of the path. The sheep just need to accept the leadership of the Shepherd.
Understanding the path will not help us follow it. Obeying and following the guiding hand of the Good Shepherd is all we need to successfully navigate any path of life.
2. Embrace That Paths of Righteousness Will Not Be Smooth and Easy
Get the idea that life should be comfortable and easy out of your head. That will go a long way in helping you be still and trust God when you don’t understand the path.
True faith is trusting God in difficult times without understanding God or His plan.
Why can we trust God our Good Shepherd when life is hard?
- Because His rod and staff protect us, guide us, and comfort us.
- Because God is trustworthy, He has been faithful and He will continue to be faithful!
3. Realize That The Path Is Not About Us Anyway
This path of righteousness, the one that is so hard and makes me want to quit, is for God’s Name Sake.
My little story is just a small part of the big story of God. He has a plan I can trust even when I don’t understand His direction for my life.
When I can’t understand life’s path, I can trust the heart of my Good Shepard as He leads me to dwell in His presence forever.
I want to pause here and answer a question I get often.
How Do You Pray for Someone Who is Going Through a Hard Time?
Praying those three things over their lives is a powerful way to help them through a difficult season. Pray that God will open their eyes to accept their role, embrace the truth, and realize the bigger story!
A Prayer to begin Trusting God
Father, You are a Good, Good Father, a Good Shepherd.
Forgive me for doubting, complaining, and becoming anxious as the path leads me through the valley of the shadow of death. This road has been long and hard and I am weary. Take back control, I surrender it to You… again.
You are the Shepherd. I am the sheep. I need You. Today I am tired of how hard things are… tired of struggling to see past this trial. Open my eyes to see You guiding me, protecting me, and providing for me.
Thank You for always being faithful even when I stray from the path. And thank you for all the times you’ve brought my wandering heart back to You. Take this life. Use it in Your bigger story to bring You glory and shine salvation to the lost world.
Amen
Will You Begin Trusting God in Difficult Times?
I can’t tell you how many times I Google things when life is hard.
- Bible verses about faith in hard times.
- Trusting God in difficult times Bible verses.
- Scriptures on hope.
- Bible verses about faith and love.
- Bible verses about faith and trust.
- Faith Bible verse.
To begin trusting God in difficult times we must begin in prayer rather than with Google!
We could look through some of those results and see that in the Scriptures there are many short prayers for hard times! People of faith spent a lot of time praying for the impossible to be possible. We could learn a lot from their example.
Will you pray today that God will help you:
- Accept that it’s not your job to understand.
- Embrace that paths of righteousness will not be smooth and easy.
- Realize that the path is not about you anyway.
Can I pray for you in any of those ways? Just comment below and I will lift you up today!
in HIM,
Tiffany of Hope Joy in Christ inspires Christian Women to grow in faith, live out Biblical Marriage Principles and raise Godly Children. Join the Wives Only Facebook Group here or keep up with her through Pinterest.
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This is an area I struggle with. Thank you for the reminder to trust God in the unknown.
So glad it blessed you Tami, I needed the reminder as well.
This was such a good read, and such a great reminder that there is hope and we should believe xo
theninebyivana.blogspot.com
Exactly. There is always hope.
As someone who suffers from anxiety disorder, your words really spoke to me.
Praying you are blessed today SuperMom!
Definitely something I struggle with but applying the 23rd Psalm to our lives can certainly help us. I love the breakdown and application.
Struggling right along with you over here Kristal! I agree it can help… whew but living it is harder said than done.
Tiffany, this is such a great and thorough treatise of Psalm 23. I so love the Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not lack anything. Thanks again, Amy
It is so comforting and so challenging isn’t it Amy?!
One of my favorite verses about being still before the Lord is Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth. That “be still” in Hebrew means “cease sriving” and is such a great reminder to me to just stop. Stop working so hard, stop trying so hard because He is God and He will be exalted. I can let it go because God’s got this.
That is it in a nutshell Carrie! A lesson God is teaching me in this season.
I love the reminder that it’s not about us, but about our Shepherd. Great post (as always), Tiffany!
Thanks Heather! Praying you are blessed today and thanks for sending that warm hug all the way over to here in KY 😉
I really find it difficult to understand when I am allowed to act on something and not just wait, David did not pray Goliath dead he had to make a decision, put in the work, not stand in the corner and wait. I really do struggle to be still in hard times, but thank you for the reminder of the bigger picture.
I agree, Bianca. There is a crazy hard tension there. When do we just pray? When do we act? How do we know when it’s time to move forward or say the hard things or just hang back waiting for God to do the hard work? God does tell us to act – often. He gives us direction and expects us to move forward in it… but I often find it hard to tell what He said unless I am prayed up and have been in the Bible often… often enough to recognize His voice. That’s the key, recognizing when He is the one directing us rather than when we are directing ourselves. Praying over you in this tension – that you will clearly hear the direction He is giving you and have the faith to step out in it.
Thank you for the amazing article. Rarely did I find such honest and thorough explanation. Please pray for me, I’m struggling about life partner atm. Thank you
Praying now, David. God is faithful and can work miracles… Standing with you for them today.
This is a beautiful article. I believe that God does not explain to us, He leads us. We are born of His spirit, filled with His spirit and led by His spirit. We triumph because we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to overcome.
Amen