Trusting God in Times of Suffering
The Bible frequently encourages us to trust God in every moment and this is especially true in moments of suffering and difficulty. It seems, however, that in moments of suffering it is really difficult to trust God (at least it is for me). So if you’re like me, I want to share three ways we can build our trust in difficult moments.
- Believe in God’s power and sovereignty over all things.
God is always in complete control of all things at all times, including our difficult moments. But we tend to forget this in moments of difficulty, so we try to control things and resolve our suffering in our own strength. We see a picture of this in Mark 4:35-41 when Jesus is asleep during a terrible storm on the lake. The disciples fear they are about to die, so they come and wake Jesus up. Jesus immediately calms the storm and rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith. How often is this us? We face a difficult situation and we try to go through it in our own strength. Instead, let us remember that God is in complete control and he is the only one who has the power to calm every storm in our lives.
- Remember the ways God has come through in the past.
We can base our present trust in God, in every situation, on how God has acted in the past. We see this throughout Scripture. Every time God is mentioned as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob this is a way to point back to God’s faithfulness in the past. The Exodus is constantly referred to as an example of God’s past deliverance and a way to build hope and trust in the present circumstance for the nation of Israel. This is what the entire book of Deuteronomy is about. Moses is reminding a new generation of Israelites all about God’s past faithfulness so they would trust him fully as they enter the Promised Land.
When walking through a difficult season, ask yourself how has God come through in the past? Where have you seen his faithfulness, power, provision? How has God answered prayers in the past? Use God’s past faithfulness to fuel your trust in God for the present.
- Be honest with yourself and God about your emotions and struggles (good or bad).
God created us with emotions, so he is familiar with them and how they affect us. We should not try to hide these from God. Instead we should come to him and be fully honest about how we’re feeling, whether that’s hurt, angry, frustrated, disappointed, etc. This is what the Psalms are all about. It is the author’s pouring out their emotions to God.
We see this clearly in Psalm 22:1-2 when David is walking through a hard season and cries out to God, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” David feels forgotten and abandoned in his moment of suffering. If we’re honest, I’m sure we’ve felt that way too, or currently feel this way. It’s OK to feel this way just like David did, but we need to bring these emotions to God because God is the only one who can provide comfort, peace, and resolution to our suffering. We see David’s resolution in the next Psalm—Psalm 23. David remembers that God has not forsaken him, but God is right there with David, leading him as the Good Shepherd. In Psalm 23 David finds his comfort in God (it’s not an accident these two Psalms are right next to each other).
We don’t know what the future holds or what suffering may come next, but whatever does come we have a God who is always right beside us. He is the one who will comfort us and lead us through our dark valleys to the peaceful pastures. He is a God who is in full control, all-powerful, and the only one we can trust and lean on in moments of suffering, doubt, fear, etc.