Trusting God During Hard Times

Let us just be honest here for a minute, trusting God can pretty hard sometimes. At least it is for me. Just because something is hard or difficult though, does not mean it cannot be done. So how do we trust God during hard times?

Well, let us see what the Bible says about it...

Proverbs, the book of wisdom, tells us in chapter 29, verse 25 (ESV) that,

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”

Fear only traps us, leaving us paralyzed in our doubts and insecurities. Whereas trusting God protects us from the evil one and gives us the “peace of God which surpasses all understanding” (as the Apostle Paul describes in Philippians 4:7, ESV).

Of course trusting God is more than just saying the words, it is also about stepping out and acting in faith. Dale Carnegie, an American writer and teacher, sums this idea up perfectly:

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”

The same goes for trusting God. You cannot just sit around and say, “yeah God, I trust you” and then not do anything that He has called you to do. Trusting God requires action! It requires you to place your faith over your fears.

King David in the Old Testament, is an excellent example of doing this. Throughout most of his writings in the book of Psalms, David cries out to God during difficult times, but he does not let his fears stop him from carrying out God’s work.

In Psalms 56:3-4 (ESV) David says this:

“When I am afraid I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”

David knew that God loved and cared for him. He knew that he was on God’s side and that was all that mattered. David knew that no matter what anyone did to him, he would still live in eternity with the God who loved him and knew him.

We can learn more than just trust from David here in Psalms (and from the verse in Proverbs too). David’s psalms show us that in our hardest times we can cry out to God with our pain and He will listen.

God may not answer in the way we hope, but that does not mean He does not hear us. His plan is so much bigger than you and me. Just look back on what Ecclessiastes 3:11 (NLT) tells us:

“...people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”

God is working in the world right now. He is in control. And we can trust Him no matter what.

So next time you are afraid and are struggling to trust God, I want you to remind yourself of God’s truth that you can trust Him. I am going to do the same thing because I struggle trusting Him sometimes too.

Here is a list of Bible verses that can help remind you to trust God and that He will always remain faithful:

Exodus 2:23-25
Psalms 44:1-3
Psalms 46:1-3
Psalms 55:22-23
Psalms 73:16-17
Psalms 118:5-6
Habakkuk 1:5 (reminder that God is working even when we cannot see it)
John 16:33
Romans 12:12
Galatians 6:9 (reminder to not give up!)
2 Timothy 2:13,19
1 Peter 5:6-7,10
Revelation 2:10-11

Now, I encourage and challenge you to write some, if not all of these, verses down—whether that is on your phone or on notecards. Then, when you need that reminder to trust God or the courage to step out in faith, you can pull out a verse that you wrote down, read it, and be encouraged. This is also a great way to help memorize Scripture which is always a great thing to do.

Finally, I want to leave you with one more quote that encourages you to continue to trust God during the hard times that most certainly will come.

Sadie Robertson, in her book Live Fearless, says,

“It’s not that things aren’t going to be scary, it’s when you are in the face of fear, you carry peace. You carry a confident trust, that you are able to speak to that fear knowing you have victory over it, because your God is bigger.”