Will You Trust That God Is With You When Life Is Hard?

Do you ever feel alone or wonder if God is with you?

There have been so many nights I’ve prayed, “God please help me through this difficult time.” It feels like no one sees… and no one cares about the hard parts of your story.

Isolation is a ploy the enemy has used since the beginning to pick off believers. I have been naive enough to believe that lie (that I could do this better on my own). As a result, have spent many years drowning in fear, anxiety, and depression.

Today you will look into the promise of God, that God is with us in every season whether it feels like it or not. It is easier to be still and set fear aside when you know that the Lord is with you.

Table of Contents hide

1 Where In The Bible Does It Say God Is With You?

1.1 How Many Times Does God Say I Am With You?

2 What Does It Mean God Is With Us?

2.1 Is Your Faith Your Own?

2.2 God Is Big Enough For Your Questions

3 How To Trust That God Is With You

3.1 Understand That The Presence of God Brings Blessing!

3.2 How Do You Trust God?

4 What Message Does God Have For Me Today?

4.1 God Helps Us In Difficult Times:

4.2 A Prayer to Trust That God Is With You When Life Is Hard

5 Will You Trust That God Is With You When Life Is Hard?

Where In The Bible Does It Say God Is With You?

“The Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father; Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless and favor you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.”” (Genesis 26:24 NASB)

In Genesis 26:24 we see a picture of the wooing love of God. He is pursuing Isaac who somehow missed him through the life of his father Abraham. This passage shows us the story of Isaac learning to trust God again. Isaac, the child of promise, was born into a dysfunctional family… much like the rest of us.

Some things you should know as we learn what it means that God is with you:

Isaac was born into the family of God’s promise.
His aged parents exiled his only brother.
This family had no real roots.
- They just traveled the wilderness.
His father attempted to murder Isaac in the name of God.
- This would have scarred him and scared him away from the Lord.
Then his parents lived separated until Isaac’s mom died.
- Read about Sarah’s story here: Complete Surrender to God Is Hard: How To Fully Let Go
Isaac inherited (or learned) his father’s habit of lying about his wife.
By the time of this encounter with the Lord, both Abraham and Sarah are dead.
- He is left to find his way in the world.

How Many Times Does God Say I Am With You?

Genesis 26:24 is the first time we see God say, “Fear not for I am with you,” but after this, it is repeated nearly 200 times!

Where in the Bible does it say God is with you?

What Does It Mean God Is With Us?

To understand what it means that God is with us, we need to look deeper into the passage. We see God pursue Isaac just as HE pursued Abraham. He knew where to look and what to say.

Fear not for I am with you means a real relationship with God. God is relational. It’s hard for us to imagine (in fact, we forget about the Lord throughout most of our day) since we can’t see the LORD, but He sees us and is always with us.

Why is it so easy to forget that God is with you?

Honestly, God had told Isaac He would be with him just a few verses earlier. What did Isaac do? He immediately began acting like Abraham. He went to a city and lied about his wife to the king. Ouch!

Isaac did not trust God yet. Maybe there was a shadow of doubt about this God who would nearly have him sacrificed as a young man. Perhaps all this faith business was his father’s thing and Isaac really hadn’t owned it.

Is Your Faith Your Own?

Has there been a time when you owned your faith?

I mean, you realized your parent’s or grandma’s or aunt’s faith was not enough to save you. Has there been a time when you met God face to face and began a real relationship with Him?

I don’t ask in a judgemental way, I ask with genuine concern.

There was a time when I spent a lot of energy playing a religious game. I followed the rules (on Sunday) and put on a mask (like all the other church people wore) believing that was what Christianity was about. But when life gets hard and you feel all alone religion is not enough.

Related Post: Why I Moved From Christian to Disciple

Did you find this mid-series? Go back here and read the intro and keep up with the series.

God Is Big Enough For Your Questions

Questions do not make your faith void. These are some of the questions I used to ask, do they sound familiar?

Why is God so hard on me?
Why is God giving me a hard time?
God, where are you?
Why does it seem like my life is so much harder than everyone else’s life?
Have you ever wondered how to pray to God to get what you want?

The answers to those questions are simple.

God is jealous and longs for a real relationship with you. We must trust in God enough to be real (even when there are big things to forgive). No matter what happens in your life, God is with you! Even when your life and past are hard, God has been with you.

How To Trust That God Is With You

As I look to apply Genesis 26:24, I see the need for trust. Fear not, for I am with you brings a blessing when we are trusting God.

Do you know how to let God into your life? And I mean God, not religion.

What is the difference? God gets a bad rep often because of craziness in religion.

Well, religion seeks to be saved from Hell, pain, and discomfort. And don’t get me wrong, God saves! But letting God into your life is about getting to know Him, allowing Him access to every part of your life.

God wants to bless you, deliver you from trouble, and be with you through hard times. Letting Him in is as simple as taking off your mask in prayer.

Religion pushes you to keep a mask in place, live life to earn God’s love. Relationship pushes you to be vulnerable and let God and others see the real mess in your life. Relationship gives you permission to bring who you really are to the One who loves you and will transform you into His image… not into the image of others, but of God!

Understand That The Presence of God Brings Blessing!

In Scripture, the phrase “I am with you” is followed by a blessing. Listen, this means that, yes, life is hard but also, yes God is good! You can trust in the Lord with all your heart! Just google “Bible verses about trusting God” or “Scriptures on trusting God” and you will see it is a theme.

Trust in God enough to be real (even when there are big things to forgive). No matter what happens God is with you! Share on X

How Do You Trust God?

Spend time in the Bible getting to know Him.
Check out a Bible study on trusting God.
- A few I love are below:
  - Trustworthy by Lisa TerKeurst
  - Believing God by Beth Moore
Pray, asking God to reveal His plan and help you in life.
- Learn how to become a strong prayer warrior and why here.
Allow other godly believers into your life to be the hands and feet of God in hard times.
- If you are a wife, we invite you to join the Facebook community for Christian Wives Choosing Hope and Joy in Every Season of Life

What Message Does God Have For Me Today?

In Genesis 26:24, we see that Isaac had to learn to trust that God would be with him. It didn’t matter that God had promised it, spoken directly to Isaac, and then reminded him again. No, Isaac had to learn it himself.

Can you relate to Isaac’s situation?

It’s hard to trust God’s plan for our lives. Honestly, God’s way and God’s timing are so mysterious. I can relate to Isaac because of the hard hurts he had to face and forgive. I’ve had to forgive some very hard hurts. We look at Abraham’s faith to sacrifice Isaac and applaud Him, but poor Isaac. That had to leave a scar that made him afraid of God. Learning how to trust God more after the hurt is a slow process.

Aren’t you glad God is patient with us and gives us so many chances to try again?!?!?!? God will repeat His promises to us to calm our fear, with no condemnation. I love that God knows we will fear and doesn’t hold it against us. Don’t you?

God loves me no matter what!! That is a truth I can stand on!

God Helps Us In Difficult Times:

God is faithful, even when we are not. Sometimes the difficult times in life are a direct result of my sin. Anyone else? God is still faithful to His promises no matter how unfaithful or willfully disobedient we are.

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful [true to His word and His righteous character], for He cannot deny Himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13 AMP)

When difficult times come, God never leaves us or forsakes us. God allows the difficult times to come, and through them, He teaches you He is with you and you can trust Him. On the other side of difficult times are often times of blessing. Oh, that calls for some praise to the God who is with you!

A Prayer to Trust That God Is With You When Life Is Hard

Oh Faithful Father God, Abba, my Dear Daddy,

Thank You for being so patient. You are so kind and compassionate to repeatedly promise You will be with me so I do not need to fear. You are so gracious to me when you could be irritated, angry, and judgemental. Oh, I praise You for being slow to anger but great in loving-kindness!

God, I need help with my life. I forget You are with me so often and try to do this in my own strength. Teach me to be still instead of being afraid. I’ve been asking, “God what is your plan for my life?” Help me to just be with You as You are with me today. God be with me always. Let that be enough to fill my soul. To take today hour by hour and praise You throughout it.

Amen