Trusting When you Cannot See

I’ve been in a weird season.  In some areas of my life, God has been moving mountains and doing what can only be described as miraculous.  In other areas, I feel like I’m either sitting still, or I keep hitting walls.  It has created deep-seated disappointments—not hopeless situations, but the current feeling is disappointment over and over again.  It often seems like there will be a breakthrough, and then I realize it’s time to “hurry up and wait.”

You may relate to one or more of these feelings.  You may be disappointed, angry, sad, or hurt over situations in your life where it seems nothing is happening or that God is absent.

One thing that helps me get through it is remembering God’s sovereignty.  More than anything, God is sovereign.  God is good.  God wants what is best for us (which is Him).  He works things together for our good when we are in Him (Romans 8:28).  He may also use our hardship for the good of others.  Your story may be the very thing He uses to help someone else.  This does not mean every circumstance is good, or that God willingly inflicts hardship on us to hurt us.  God hurts when we hurt, just as a parent hurts right along with their child.

He constantly seeks to draw us to Himself, where life is found.  Growing up, my natural tendency toward depression and anxiety coupled with difficult circumstances created a lot of internal pain.  In this, God drew me to Himself and completely transformed me from the inside out.  For this, I am deeply grateful.  I would have rather gone through this pain in order to draw closer to Him than have what is considered a “normal” adolescence.

Because of the pain I endured growing up, I’m able to face pain today with a strength I would not have without Him.  In this, God used the internal and external hardship of my adolescence to work toward my ultimate good, even though I could not see it at the time.

This brings me to my next point.  Our understanding and perspective is limited.  We often cannot see what God is doing “behind the scenes.”  In some areas of my life, He is making Himself loud and clear.  In other areas, He is telling me to wait in Him and trust Him with what I cannot yet see.  Knowing He is working towards my ultimate good, and remembering the good He has worked together in the past, helps me face uncertainties with a hope which can only be found in Him.

A third thing to remember is He promises to always be with us, no matter what.  I often think of the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus cried out to God for deliverance (from the cross), but prayed for God’s will to be done.  God did not deliver him in the moment (for the sake of the good of mankind), but provided comfort.  When God says no, or not right now, He will be with us and give us comfort.  He always hears our cries, and He will always be with us—whether His answer is yes, no, or wait.

If you are enduring hard times today, remember—God is good, and God wants what is best for us (which is ultimately Him, the source of life).  We often, in the moment, cannot see what good He is working together, but know He is working for the good of His people.  He promises to always be with us, whether He is moving mountains or mysteriously working behind the scenes.