How can we trust God when we can’t see any proof He’s working?
This is a challenge I’ve wrestled with several times in my life and it’s probably something we’ve all faced at one point or another.
Maybe you’re in a situation like that now. You felt like God is speaking something to you or doing something in your life, so you step out. You step out of that relationship or job or place you’ve been living or you try out for that part or put in that application. You have big faith and you make a bold move to trust God, and then you wait… and wait some more.
You hold onto hope for a little while, but after a few days or weeks, you start to question if you were actually supposed to do that because nothing has happened. After a month, you shrug it off and figure you heard God wrong or you step up and take the reigns because now God is just taking a little too long.
I’ve been there.
During my season there, I was reading the book of Exodus and remember so clearly being smacked by this story in chapter 32.
Moses was up on the mountain talking with God while the Israelites waited at the base of the mountain. The Israelite people went to Aaron and told him to build them gods to worship because they felt like Moses was delayed and they didn’t know what happened to him. So, Aaron collected their gold and built them a calf. He built an altar and the people worshipped it. It says they ate and drank and rose up to play.
They felt great having taken matters into their own hands by making this false god to help them out. What they didn’t see was that Moses was up on that mountain still talking with the actual God. God tells Moses what is happening and hurries him to return to the people.
In verse one, the Israelites call Moses delayed.
In verse eight, God tells Moses they turned aside quickly from His commands.
The time frame? 40 days.
It only took them 40 days to decide that God wasn’t doing what they thought, that Moses was a goner, and that they should do something about it.
And God called it quick.
If we are turning and doubting just a few days or weeks into the waiting, God would say that’s quick.
So when we are like the Israelites, waiting for something to happen but not seeing any of it unfold, how can we hold onto hope? How do we trust God when we don’t see any proof He’s working?
Remember God’s character
It is so much easier to trust God when you know who He is. As you read the Bible, search for His character.
In a devotional I read from Amy Seiffert, she emphasized that we aren’t waiting on a what, we are waiting on a who. We aren’t waiting for something to happen, we’re waiting on God to make that thing happen. We aren’t waiting on what God is going to do, we’re waiting on God to do it.
When we know who God is, we can trust He’s going to come through in that situation.
It’s like if you go to coffee with a friend every week and she always shows up and she is always on time. But this week, she doesn’t show up. You don’t doubt her character and assume that she is just irresponsible and doesn’t want to see you. Instead, you wonder what might’ve happened. Maybe there was an accident on her drive and she’s stuck in traffic. You know her character and that she is always on time, trustworthy, and wants to be there with you. You don’t doubt her character, you just wonder where she is.
The same can be true when we know who God is. We don’t doubt His character, we just wonder what He’s up to.
My favorite thing to remind myself in a season of waiting or wondering what God doing is that God is sovereign and He’s good. If He was sovereign but not good, that would be terrifying because He could do whatever He wanted, and maybe not with our best interest in mind. If He was good but not sovereign, that would ultimately be worthless because He wouldn’t be able to do anything to change our situation. It’s because He is both sovereign and good that we can put our faith in Him.
In Job 42:2, after Job has lost pretty much everything in his life, he tells God, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” Despite all that has happened – all the hardship and loss and questions – he is declaring that he knows God can do everything.
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”
When we know God’s character, we can hold onto hope so much easier.
Read the stories of the Bible
We often forget that the characters in the Bible had no idea how the story was going to end when they were in the middle of it. We get to see the whole picture, but they had no idea how things were going to turn out. The Israelites didn’t know how they would cross the Red Sea, they just knew they needed to get away from the Egyptians. David didn’t know that one stone would take down Goliath, he just knew he was going to try. We can read about miracle after miracle in the Bible. Stories where the people had no idea how God would come in and fix things and He does something awesome.
We should read these stories and say, “If God did it for them, surely He can do it for me too. He is the same God who did that and even when I can’t see how, I know He can.”
God doesn’t need time, resources, or money to make something happen. He can do it in an instant. He can drop it in your inbox. He can flip the script in a second.
He knows the perfect time for that thing to happen in your life, and when you know that God has done it before, you can trust His to do it again. He can fix your situation in a moment, give you the job, or reconcile that relationship in a single moment. He doesn’t need anything from us; He can do whatever He wants.
Recite the truth
Focus on what you know not on how you feel. That’s faith. Feelings are inconsistent, so speak to yourself and remind yourself of the truth. As many times as you need to. All day if you need to.
The psalmist in Psalm 42:5 says, “Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.”
Speak to your soul. Remind it to hope in God! Tell yourself the truth instead of listening to the lies that replay in your head.
When I was pregnant with my first baby, I took full advantage of the benefits of it. I sat around a lot, ate four bowls of cereal per day, and loved every minute of it. Then came labor, and it was so hard. Post-partum was even worse. I couldn’t lift my 8-pound son out of the bassinet because my core muscles were so weak. I ended up doing six months of physical therapy before feeling some inkling of the strength I had before.
I vowed I would not do that again. I wouldn’t go into another pregnancy feeling weak, and I would commit to working out throughout pregnancy because I would need that strength.
Being pregnant now, I’m doing just that. I know that if I exercise and strengthen my body throughout now, I will have all of those muscles to get me through the hardest part – labor. Then, I have them working for me during recovery. I’ll have strength when I go through the most difficult times.
The same is true of our faith. If we are strengthening it day by day when things are going well, we will have it to carry us and anchor us to the truth when we endure the hard things. We should be building up our faith in God, increasing our knowledge of the stories, and hiding verses away in our hearts when things are good so that we can tap into them in the hard times. The waiting. The in-betweens and uncertainties.
It is so much harder to build your faith in God when you feel like the world is crashing in on you. It’s hard to look for His goodness and faithfulness – even when it’s there – in the middle of the mess.
But, if you know who He is, if you remember the incredible things He has done, and if you recite the truth to yourself despite your feelings and doubts, you can trust Him. Even when you can’t see what He’s doing.
Looking for more? Check out the latest blog posts below!
- How to Read the Bible and Actually Understand It
- How to Practice Self-Care as a Christian | Part Five: Gratitude
- How to Practice Self-Care as a Christian | Part Four: Community Support
- How to Practice Self-Care as a Christian | Part Three: Service
- How to Practice Self-Care as a Christian | Part Two: Scripture
