It’s something Scripture repeatedly stresses, and something we hear a lot of in the Church: when things get hard, trust God. Of course, trusting Him comes naturally when everything is going right, isn’t it? When business is booming, our marriage is flourishing, and our kids are healthy, we can effortlessly point the finger at our fellow struggling, single parent believer and urge them to “just trust God” to meet their needs.
Yes, it’s easy to trust God when our bank account is overflowing, we’re in prime health, and all is right in our corner of the world.
But what about trusting Him when crap really hits the fan? What about when we lose our dream job, when that business endeavor fails, when we lose that pregnancy, when our marriage falls apart, when financial ruin looms… what about when the anxiety threatens to spiral our faith out of control, and when trusting God is all we have left?
My husband and I have experienced a lot of struggle during our eleven years of marriage. We’ve been through multiple career changes, putting me through school, buying houses, selling houses, surprise babies, financial loss, cross country moves, health struggles, and intense marriage therapy. It was always easy to trust God when everything was right in our world, but when the next wave inevitably hit, that’s where our faith – or lack thereof – was ultimately revealed.
As someone who has struggled with depression and anxiety since childhood, I can’t tell you how many times I let my feelings cloud the truth known in my heart. And yet, God came through. Every single time. Whether in the form of a random check in the mail, a pay raise at work, or the stars aligning perfectly for a complex situation… He always took care of us.
Trust in God is a theme we see time and time again throughout Scripture. And nobody understood this better than Job. Remember him? The man who lost literally everything – his entire family, all his possessions, and ultimately even his health – and yet he refused to stop trusting God through it all. Even when he couldn’t understand why the God he loved and devoted himself to would allow his life to crumble to pieces. Even when, finally, his own wife and friends berated him for clinging to his faith and urged him to curse God. Even then, amongst the torn clothing and ashes, amidst the tears, despair, and discomfort, he chose to cling to the promises of God.
What faith. What trust.
And remember the story of the poor widow who gave her last two coins to the temple in Mark 12? Many rich people came by and gave significantly more than she did, and yet Jesus praised her over all the rest; not because she gave a lot in quantity, but because she gave everything she had. Quality of faith over quantity of possessions.
I’ve often wondered what was going through her mind at the time. Was there any shred of doubt lingering in her heart when those last couple coins fell from her hand? Was she afraid, not knowing where her next meal would come from? It’s very possible. She was only human, after all. But ultimately, she chose her faith in God over fear of the unknown. In the end, she trusted God even when she had nothing left to give.
But it doesn’t stop there; Scripture is clear that suffering is ultimately what produces character, and character produces hope, and if we don’t have hope we can’t have faith. It’s the suffering that draws us closer to the Lord if we allow it to. Scripture’s stance on trusting God is clear in that we are to rely on His grace alone to sustain us through our weaknesses.
This doesn’t mean that anxious, depressing thoughts and feelings magically disappear; it means we choose to continually entrust them to our Creator with open hands rather than clutching them and allowing our hearts to be consumed by them.
“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” – 1 Peter 4:19
“..But we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:3-5
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9
I don’t know about you, but I want a faith like Job and that widow who gave her last two coins. I want the kind of faith that clings to Who I know God is when everything around me crumbles. If He cares even about the tiny sparrow that falls to the ground, how much more does He care for His own children? Let’s trust Him even when – and especially – when trusting God is all we have left. It’s when the tunnel looks the darkest that the brightest light shines through and our faith is revealed.
With love & grace,
Natalie
Leave a Reply