Practical Reasons to Trusting God in Trials

A couple months ago we produced a video called Strange Things. I have been thinking since then about how we can grow in our trust in God during our hardships. Having a good attitude in the midst of suffering sounds crazy, but it is the pattern of those who have developed a beautiful walk with God. Those who have been refined in the fire end up shining!

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever 

you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the 

testing of your faith produces perseverance.” -James 1:2-3

I want to make this abundantly clear before I share all kinds of positive thoughts. I do not like this cancer. It has completely disrupted my life. It is causing untold grief on my family and friends. I am working through anger feelings, fear feelings, sad feelings and even guilty feelings. But I am thankful in the midst of it. I am uncomfortable and I am somewhat afraid. I have two other attitude options as I see it: 1. grumble and complain through it or 2. be in denial that it is not all that bad. Some people could just say, “you got dealt a bad hand”. That is somewhat minimizing in my opinion. I would agree that I have been dealt a bad hand, but I am not just the victim of fate or unpreferred outcomes. To play the victim card is to concede that there is nothing out there except random collisions of options. I would say my God is bigger than the seemingly prevailing evil and brokenness we see everywhere! He is bigger than disease! He is bigger than oppression! He is bigger than bad circumstances! 

Believing that God is bigger than the evil is what carries me along in hope. We also believe that one day in the future, He will make all things right. We call this redemption! But I am also in a relationship with this powerful God. He has allowed this nasty beast of cancer to come into my brain. My ultimate problems are with Him. He invites me to process it, all the anger, fear and sadness. I am not done in my processing with Him. I do trust Him deeply, but I am also hurt. Interesting, the One I am angry with is the only One who can help me. He invites me near to dialogue about it. Those dialogues with God are the way we learn to trust deeper and deeper. 

My hope in God is not just in getting healed or that my life will go back to normal, though I have prayed for those many times. My hope is that while being in the midst of the most brutal trial of my life, I would remain faithful to trust Him. I am safe with God! I would say I am completely safe in His hands. Yes, I may perish at the claws of this monster, but I am fully in the grasp of my King. He oversees every death of His people. I do not believe He is ever the author of evil, but death is in His job description. We give Him credit for births, why not deaths? I do not think God causes murderers to do their wickedness, but He somehow oversees those deaths. He too will oversee my death whenever that may come. Below are a couple quotes that affect me on this trust issue.

“Trust = Faithfulness over time.” Pastor Garrett Naufel 

“Trustworthy = Worthy of our trust”

“God is not my little genie who is supposed to do whatever I wish for.”

“God always defines ‘good’, not the humans.”

Here are my initial thought about some reasons why we can trust God in the midst of trials. Maybe you can look at the cited scripture and ponder these sweet reasons to trust Him.

Reason #1: God has demonstrated He is faithful to us in so many ways historically. For me, my Thankful List has been a tangible way to see His faithfulness over time.

Reason #2: God demonstrated His love for us in this, that while we were still sinners Jesus died for us. Romans 5:8, I John 4:10

Reason #3: As we spend time with God over years and years it gives us an inner confidence of His closeness and care. Hebrews 4:16, Matthew 7:24-27

Reason #4: When we look back at trials in our past, we can often see how God worked out His plan to grow us up through the trials. Romans 8:28

Reason #5: Even though some argue this reasoning is circular, it is still true, God is always infinitely good even though we cannot see it. Accusations against His goodness never end but will never be true.

Reason #6: God will be glorified no matter what in the end. 

I hope these ramblings help as we all learn to trust Him more and more. Just writing and thinking about them has helped me. In the weeks ahead, I plan to write about my emotional processing of anger, guilt and fear that I am in the middle of right now. Please text me or write a comment on here for my benefit and others’. My cell number is 573-999-1776

Bonus Scripture on suffering: Romans 5:3-5, 1Thessalonians 5:16-18, 1Peter 1:7, 1Peter 5:8-10, 2Corinthians 4:17, Hebrews 5:7-8, Proverbs 3:5-6, Philippians 2:14-15