How to trust God in the unknowns of life

How do we trust God when everything feels unknown, and we feel afraid? How do we grow our faith?

What do we do when God requires action from our faith? It is all a gift. Faith. The courage to walk in it.

“Ask them, ask them what they look forward to doing with their baby sister. “

I knew what God had spoken. He said He would heal our baby girl and I believed Him. But now He was asking me to invite my children in. They were 4 and 8. So little, so innocent. So unaware of the storm we were walking through. I said Lord, you will heal her, right? I’m scared. If you don’t, then it is cruel to ask of them such a thing. I felt His love and embrace and so I asked. Their responses were precious and sweet.” I am looking forward to snuggling with her.” “Tickling her tummy.”

We dreamed about what our lives would look like with this precious baby girl The Lord had promised. It was time to enlarge our tents, He said. Even while everything from a medical perspective pointed to her death. 

Should we make funeral arrangements? No, God had said she would live and not die and no matter how insane and how much pity we received from people who loved us and knew what we were walking through we had to obey God, not man.

Your obedience to God will be costly. It will look crazy to the person on the outside. You may even be called insane by the people closest to you. “What you are believing is not possible, it is more probable that the Drs. are right, that she will die. What if she dies, what will become of your faith then?”

How do you even respond? I looked on with love, and with courage that was not my own I said, “and if she dies, then God will heal me, but I refuse to believe anything other than what God has shown me!”

The rest of that car ride was silent. I had tasted of deaths bitter drink. After the death of my first little brother I had seen how God had taken a very broken 17 year old and had called me His own, I knew if He took her, He would heal me again.

Create a space for her

“Do you believe me? And if you believe me then you will create a space for her.”

It is a hard thing to move into action sometimes. Especially when life looks so uncertain and everything feels so fragile. No one would have blamed me for waiting. But God in His infinite kindness wanted to show me the surpassing gift of faith in action.

He brought to mind this passage out of the book of Isaiah,

““Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭54‬:‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Faith requires action. If we believe Gods word to be truth then we will act out of this faith, our belief. Sometimes what God asks of us feels more than what we can bear and it is. But He will not leave us and He is not asking that we would bear the weight alone. He is saying will you trust me? Do you believe me? Will you take me at My Word? I am Faithful. I am not man that I should lie. 

So I cleared up a little corner in our home, in our master bedroom, a place for her. I brought in a tiny baby basinet and decorated it with so much love. Through tears of gratitude and prayer. Sometimes what Father asks of us doesn’t make sense. Most often it won’t make sense. He is calling us higher, a place of total dependency upon Him.

“Reach out to that person you’ve not talked to in years. Ask her how she’s doing. Pray for that person that offended you. Invite the single Mama over to your home, feed her and her children. Sit with the brokenhearted. Buy the homeless man groceries, and tell Him I love him. I know your life feels like it’s falling apart, but open your home to your family, they need a place to stay.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Our job is to trust in The Lord with all our heart. As best as we can, we do not lean on our own understanding. We acknowledge Him in all things and we trust that as we do what He has called us to, it is He who will make our paths straight.

He will do it! 

He has called us to obedience. This simple truth transformed my life.

How do we trust? 

When we are first learning to walk with God we may wonder if we can trust Him. I have found again and again that I can rest fully in The Lord, I can place my hope and trust in Him. Especially in brokenness. When I feel afraid, He draws me in. He holds us through the sobs, He doesn’t leave. He doesn’t grow weary or tired. This however does not mean that He will answer my prayers, cries and requests in the way that I want, and when I want. 

When I feel fearful to take Fathers hand to receive the invitation He is extending to me, a beautiful narrow road. I am hesitant because I do not know what it will cost me, what I will loose, will I hurt? I want you to know that these responses are normal. Especially when we have lost. It is hard to trust again. I find that many times it is difficult for me to trust because I feel let down. When my heart is overwhelmed and I feel weary I will often sit in silence and wait for Fathers comfort to meet me. I trust the words of the psalmist in Psalms 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of need.

Recently I found the work of Jacob, Her, it is fitting for this message. I pray it blesses you, as it has blessed me.

So I ask myself, why do you feel let down? And I wait for The Lord to help me. To search deep within myself. The word of God tells us that only the spirit of that person knows the deep things of God. The Spirit of God Himself searches us, He sees if there is any grievous way within us. I do my best to live my life submitted to Papa, but this doesn’t mean I don’t revert to old tendencies of withholding and building walls. That’s the beautiful and hard thing about brain pathways, the more we walk a certain way the more the brain pathways are reinforced, this is especially true for a brain that has endured much trauma and loss. The desire to self preserve is how we’ve survived. But God, He is kind and merciful. Together with Him, we can rewire our brains, we can learn to trust Him.

My favorite prayer, “Father, you remember my frame, you know that I am dust, deal kindly with me.” & He will.

So I ask Him to heal my brain. To help me with the thoughts that assail my mind. To help me to not react from a place of loss, but to respond from a place of confidence that no matter what happens it will turn out for my good and for His glory like His word says.

I have come to believe again and again that even in pain and in loss He will not abandon us. He will not forsake us. He is not angry with us because we doubt His goodness. Instead He leans in close and He whispers to our spirit, “Ask me, ask my Spirit to remind you of all the times I have been faithful, I will be faithful again.” 

There is something so powerful in remembering. Bringing back to mind the faithfulness of God, we are not alone. This act of remembering was a command that Father gave to the Israelites long ago. When we remember, the same power that was present in that moment comes flooding our minds. Just like the painful moments that come to minds with all the emotions of those moments and seasons. The beautiful reminders of Gods faithfulness have the same effect, but all the more, because the beauty of what we have seen Father do will draw us to Himself. Fill us with hope, courage and strength to face the day. He will not leave us alone in our pain.

We are never the same when we encounter the heart of God.

He told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6 to tell their children how God rescued them out of the land of Egypt, He told them to bind these truths around their necks, to place them on their homes. To remember! The Lord has wired us for remembering His faithfulness and goodness. We are prone to forgetting, just like the Israelites, when we see the enemies in front of us we look at our enemies and forget that God has told us He would be with us. “But the giants Lord, they are so big, and I am so small, what can I do?” I often hide behind my Abba Father, I know that on our own we cannot stand. But at His side, we are strong. We feel brave! Courage rises inside of us, like a mother bear, ready to defend her young, and we will, because He has not left us alone. “Take my hand in yours, I will be your God, and you will be my people” To read more of our story and how to trust God when everything says it’s impossible click here.

³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

“¹⁹ The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. ²⁰ And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. ²¹ And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ ²³ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, ²⁴ so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”^[c]” Joshua 4:19-24

Stones of remembrance

What would our lives look like if we took God at His Word and remembered His faithfulness, and when we forgot we asked Him to remind us? Would our faith be strengthened, would we be encouraged? I truly believe we would be, even in the unknowns of life. Even when life didn’t turn out the way we thought or prayed it would. God still carried us through. God was still faithful. God still provided.

One winter day in my third trimester in 2016 our little four year old would bless my heart tremendously. I was sitting before Father singing, declaring, fighting to believe, “you make all things beautiful“. My little boy looks up at me and he says, “Mommy I drew something.” Show me buddy. “See mommy, this is a storm, this right here in the middle, it’s your tummy mommy, baby is kept safe from the storm.”

This is the same little boy who had no idea of the fiery storm we were walking through. But God knew.

I sat stunned. The Lord didn’t need to tell me, but He did. The Lord chose to use this little four year old baby boy to bless my heart. Yes, this season was so hard, but it was also rich and beautiful. When I tell you I encountered God daily in tangible ways, I mean it fully. He drew me, pulled me up close and taught me to fix my eyes on Him, like only He can do. He didn’t leave me totally in the dark. If we would have the faith to believe God cares intimately for His people, we would see all of His goodness pass before us, even in the unknown, even in our brokenness.

Years later I would ask a few of my close friends how they were able to have faith during this season of hardship with our third baby. “You had such tremendous faith that I didn’t have room to believe anything else.” How were you able to throw such a beautiful baby shower for us? With the most sincere love, “I knew that even if our precious girl did go to be with Jesus, you would share generously of what God had given you.” This little darling girls life was worth celebrating from the womb! Father surrounded me with a community of precious sisters who were praying fervently alongside me, believing God would heal. If you are wondering how to find your people, please see this post where I share how The Lord helped me to build authentic friendships and how He can do the same for you.

Trust Him with me, He is worthy of any cost.

Days before her arrival I would bring myself to my knees, before the one who is worthy, my face drenching the carpet beneath me with my tears, big and pregnant, violent sobs, and a heartfelt prayer, “Father, I know what you have spoken, I know what you have said, and I believe you, but if you decide to take her, she is yours Father, she is yours.”. Remembering the sacredness of this moment is piercing to my heart.

In that moment I wasn’t afraid. Even in that moment the faith that rose up inside of me to come before my Abba Father did not originate in me, but in a good, good Father who desires for intimacy with His children.

God was so kind to me, not just because He healed my baby girl. No, but because He held me close. Because like Jesus He continued to comfort me in moments of tremendous despair. Grief unbearable. I do not understand the intricacies of this prayer and what it meant to my faith, but I know that like Abraham, Father was asking me to trust Him with our promised child. I cannot think of a better way to explain to you what this moment was like then the words found in Hebrews 11:17-19

The Word of God says, “¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ¹⁹ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”

He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead.

These words stop me in my tracks. We will not always understand the ways of God, but my desire for us is to truly seek first His Kingdom and to trust that everything else that we need will be provided for, because He is Faithful. Because He knows and sees exactly what we need. Because He is kind. He will not leave us in our wavering, in our floundering, in insecurity and fear. He will meet us. I never want to glamorize these parts of my life. Because they are gruesome and many times were excruciatingly painful, death whether to self or for the next life, is always painful, but His Word tells us, it will always yield fruit. Always.

The beauty we long to see is not after the storm has passed, it’s actually found in the midst of the storm. Because beauty has a Name, it is the person of Jesus. He sits with us in the storm. He doesn’t wait for it to pass to encounter us, no, He rushes to our side. He holds us close. Because He knows. Jesus truly knows and understands our suffering. Our struggles to believe. To rest. To trust. He shields us in the storm.

Yessi Argabright

We do not have a high Priest who is unable to sympathize with us, but His Word says “For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.”

Because of the sacrifice of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we do not have to wrestle alone. He understands. He meets us in this place of wandering. He calls us back to Himself. He is trustworthy sister. If you find yourself walking through a dark season of the soul, lean in close, “He will not leave you, He will not forsake you.” He cannot. We have been entrusted into His loving arms and He will not let us go. This is the good news of the gospel, no matter what happens in this life, Christ will never let go. He will see us through. And when we forget His lovingkindness will remind us, because Faithful is who He is.

If this message has blessed you, encouraged your heart, would you bless me by leaving me a comment and letting me know? I am so thankful for each and every single one of you who take the time to read and to share with your people whom you know need to hear this message of hope. Life can be so hard, and if these parts of my story help to bring you peace and joy I will keep writing that God would be honored and glorified. Obeying even when it is hard to share the deeper parts of me.

Here are five more classical pieces to bless your heart.

Many blessings and Fathers loving kindness towards you. May His mercy be ever present in your today and everyday.

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Dig deeper: Matthew 6:33, Hebrews 11:1, 1 John 5:15, 1 Corinthians 1:27