Will there ever be a stable routine again?
This question echoes in my mind while I lay exhausted on the couch after the heavy burst of grief. My heart is weary of so much pain, sadness, and disappointment. After the unexpected loss of my husband, my life unraveled.
This one enormous loss unlocked a series of many other losses and plunged me into a season of grief, suffering, and multiple stressful transitions. Pain became my constant companion.
I am honored and happy to share how to trust God when it hurts on Living By Design Ministries today.
Remember to pin me for later!
Trusting God is a Choice
How can I trust God when it hurts so much? How can I trust Him when I don’t understand, and I struggle to grasp His ways and mysterious providence?
There are moments when it seems nearly impossible to reconcile the painful feelings and the looming uncertainty with the love of God and His good plans and intentions.
Maybe you are in the same struggle, friend. When it hurts, it is especially challenging to continue to trust God and the plans He has for us.
But I want to trust Him. Whenever I did this in the past, I experienced deeper peace and lightness. The choice to trust God pushes back the heavy curtain of discouragement on our hearts and lets the sun of His love, joy, and hope shine again.
So I push aside my painful feelings and begin to remember why I can still trust God when it hurts.
The choice to trust God pushes back the heavy curtain of discouragement on our hearts and lets the sun of His love, joy, and hope shine again. via @onthewaybg @bydesignorg #encouragement #trustGod Share on XSix Reasons to Trust God When It Hurts
#1 There is a Purpose in Our Pain and Suffering
Our present pain serves a purpose. It is a preparation for what is coming, for greater challenges will surely come. We need to learn to trust God and lean on Him and His strength in our present seasons of pain to face the greater challenges in the future.
God’s answer to Jeremiah’s complaint expresses beautifully this idea: “If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?” (Jeremiah 12:5)
Let’s choose to say with the psalmist, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26)
To read the whole article and find out the rest of the reasons to trust God, visit Living by Design Ministries and be strengthened and encouraged.
More Comfort and Encouragement for Your Season of Pain
Friend, if you are in a season of grief and pain, you may also want to check two of my books. The first one is the “BOOK OF COMFORTS”.
In this book, you’ll find comfort when you struggle with unmet expectations, disillusionment in faith, when you are in a season of pain, when your hope diminishes, when life gets hard, and much more. Reflection questions and a guided prayer follow each devotion.
The second one is Draw Near: How Painful Experiences Become the Birthplace of Blessings. The book aims to help the readers not only to identify and accept their losses but more importantly to show them that each painful experience could be a birthing place of specific gains, benefits, and blessings.
My Amazon Picks for You
The Deepest Place: Suffering and the Formation of Hope by Curt Thompson
Soul Cry: Devotional Prayers for Wounded, Grieving and Suffering Hearts by Gary Roe
Mining for God’s Gold in Life’s Dark Valleys by Margaret E. Head
Before You Quit: Everyday Endurance, Moral Courage, and the Quest for Purpose by Doug Gehman
Trusting God in All the Things: 90 Devotions for Finding Peace in Your Every Day by Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk
Life Can Be Good Again by Lisa Appelo
It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lisa Terkeurst
Hope When Life Unravels: Finding God When It Hurts by Adam Dooley
Restoration Year – a 365 Days Devotional by John Eldredge
All Things New by John Eldredge
Your Turn
Do you struggle to trust God when it hurts? What is your number one reason to trust God in seasons of pain? Share in the comments! If the post has encouraged you, please share it on social media. Thanks.
We need to learn to trust God and lean on Him and His strength in our present seasons of pain to face the greater challenges in the future. via @onthewaybg @bydesignorg #suffering #trustGod Share on XDo you want to watch this post as a vlog? Click HERE. If you found it helpful, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Thanks!
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This post is very comforting. It is really hard to trust God in hard times but it’s best thing to do because who else do I turn to aside God? Thank you so much for sharing
Thanks so much for your encouraging words! I am glad that the post brought comfort to you.
I really appreciate how you are using your own heartache to strengthen others. Thanks so much for your wisdom. Sending hugs!
Thanks so much, Patti! Sending love and hugs too!
I read this post for the second time today, sweet friend, and it blessed me so deeply. Thank you for ministering to our hearts through the lessons you have learned in life’s darkest valleys. You are a gift.
Thanks so much for your uplifting and encouraging words, my dear friend!
I don’t think questioning would bring as much comfort as simply believing. Everything happens for a reason, even if we cannot always understand the reason.
Beautiful reflection, as always!
Thanks a lot for your wise words, Mihaela! You are right – when we are in pain we need much more consolation than answers to our questions.
Comforting post. And good points on why we should trust God when it hurts as most <3
Thanks, Ann! I am glad that you found the post comforting.
Thank you for sharing your pain and your strength to move forward even after such a great loss. We all have difficult times in our lives where we question everything– it’s important to realize we’re not alone on this journey.
Thanks so much for your encouraging words, Ana! Yes, realizing we are not alone on this journey is a great help and comfort.
It’s so true that trusting God is a choice. Even though it’s sometimes tough to trust God when it hurts, where else would I turn? Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts and giving others hope in the midst of pain.
Thanks for sharing this, Lisa! You are right, where else would we turn in our pain if not to God, our Comforter, and Redeemer?
I definitely used to struggle with trusting God during difficult and painful seasons. I would get overwhelmed with thoughts of “it’s not fair” or “why is this happening to me?”
But lately, I’ve been leaning into the verse that says, Thou He slay me, yet I will trust in Him.
For me, this was scary, because it felt stupid to trust someone who is slaying you. But I also know that God isn’t going to hurt me.
And it allowed me to stop fighting with reality.
I am going through hard things because that’s part of being a human on Earth. And that’s okay. He’s got me.
You said you push aside your painful feelings, I find though that it helps to allow them to be there and trust Him anyways.
Yes, I’m scared and I’m hurt and a little angry, but I’m choosing to trust him anyways.
What do you think? Can we hold space for our uncomfortable emotions and trust him at the same time?
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and experience, Lily! Yes, we are right, it is possible to hold space for our uncomfortable emotions and trust God at the same time. Painful emotions are necessarily in contradiction to our faith. Both exist simultaenously. By pushing painful emotions aside I meant pushing the false messages of these emotions and focusing on God’s truths instead. Blessings to you!