If you are wondering how to trust God when life is hard, I get it. I do too! Frankly, trust does not come easily to me, especially when I’m suffering But that is exactly what God asks us to do. He asks us to believe His Word and trust Him in the midst of our trials, even when it looks grim.
As much as I want to believe God, sometimes it is hard not to waver in my faith. I think God knows this. We are, after all, human and tend to get our eyes off of Him and onto our circumstances quite often…
That is why I asked God to show me
I’m not going to give you 10 reasons to trust God or a sermon on trusting God in difficult times.
Strangely, God answered me through a squash plant. Weird, I know. In fact, it’s a little
In this post, I am going to help you understand why you can trust God in difficult times. By the end of the word picture, you may finally understand why bad things happen and see it from a difficult perspective.
*I continue the word picture of a garden and talk about composting in a related post. It is a great analogy of how to overcome failure or loss. God can redeem even the worst things that happen to us.
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How Do You Trust God When Life Gets Hard?
It takes a strong person to trust God in difficult times. Instead, most people ask, “Why me?”
Let me answer with a word picture. It may give you a better perspective from God’s point of view. I know I am not God but just go with me here.
Not too long ago, my sister texted a picture of a nasty squash vine borer; she was doing surgery to remove the bugs. Days earlier, she noticed her squash plant would bloom, but then it would drop its flowers.
Unfortunately, no flowers meant no fruit.
My sister was confused by the behavior of this plant; it looked so healthy. It had a big root at the base, lots of growth, and the leaves were a nice green color. Most of all, the plant was enormous in size.
In fact, it was so big, it was crowding out the other plants on the trellis who were actually producing fruit. Not only that, but it was also sucking precious nutrients.
After a thorough inspection, she noticed a gooey mess toward the bottom of the plant.
Looking more closely, she found the enemy was a squash vine borer. It bored its way into the stalk and was insidiously eating the plant from the inside out.
Gross.
To make matters worse, it was leaving this disgusting, oozy mess that was actually the borer’s poop.
Double gross.
Since my sister has an organic garden, her choices for dealing with the problem (the enemy) were limited. She could improve the soil, do surgery/pick out the squash borers, or let it die.
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How to Trust God When Everything Is Going Wrong
My sister chose to do surgery to get rid of her difficult problem (nasty bugs) because she loved her plants. She was like a mother cleaning up a dirty child who had rolled into a briar patch.
It was very tedious work to cut open the stalk without cutting down the whole plant, but necessary if she wanted to save the plant.
The surgery involved using a sharp knife and tweezers. Once in the stalk, she had to dig around for the squash borers and pick them out one by one.
Then she had to kill the borers so they wouldn’t come back to eat the vine. She squished them. Yuck again.
The surgery was messy. If you look closely, you can see the gooey mess on the utensils.
To make matters worse, it had a horrible smell (borer poop) when she opened up the stalk. It was not a pleasant experience but necessary to save the plant. She pulled out 5 borers in a four-inch span. Wow!
Here is one she found lurking on the ground right by the plant. See how it was camouflaged! How tricky.
Here (look below) is what the plant looked like after she cleaned it out completely. It had a big hole, but there was a better chance the squash plant would live and bear fruit.
After surgery, my sister added more compost to the roots. She will continue to deal with the root problem in the days to come with good soil.
Healthy soil is a long-term remedy for keeping predators away.
Here is an interesting fact: When a plant is weak, it actually attracts predators to come and eat it. This is nature’s way of dealing with a sick plant. Otherwise, we would have millions of decomposing plants sitting around on the ground.
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Do You Have Faith In God In Difficult Times?
So what does the squash plant have to do with how we need to trust God in difficult times?
Everything.
When I looked at the squash vine borer and all the damage it was doing, I understood why my sister decided to cut the plant. It was an act of love to save the squash vine from being pulled up and thrown into the compost pile.
Here is the rub. This is not much different than what God does with us.
He sees when we have been infected by our enemy, Satan (squash borer). If we allow it, the Master Gardener (God) will go in and do surgery.
The knife He uses is usually in the form of a trial. We get cut, and it hurts. In fact, we have a gaping hole.
We think God is being mean to us when, in fact, He is trying to save us so one day we will bear fruit. Unfortunately, we are so blind to his calculated cuts that we don’t see his intentions. All the while we are being eaten alive by our own sins. And wallowing in our own stinky mess just like the vine borer in its poop.
Sadly, it feels like we can’t trust God in difficult times because we only see the surgeon’s hands and all the pain He has caused.
To add insult to injury, we miss the fact that Satan is lurking at our doorstep constantly waiting to do more damage just like the borer who was camouflaged near the roots. In fact, our weakness drew him out.
Oh, if we only had spiritual eyes to see the truth!
Why Does God Allow Suffering? 5 Good Reasons He Allows Pain In Our Lives
The Surgeon’s Heart
If we can just look past the pain to the surgeon’s heart, we will see God, in His love, trying to clean us up. We don’t realize He hurts too just like my sister did when she saw her plant wasn’t thriving. And he has a remedy–good soil (Bible) to keep the enemy away.
After I pondered this situation for a while, I finally decided I could trust God in difficult times. Furthermore, I realized I had judged God without all the facts.
Christianity 101, “Do not judge.” Duh.
The Bible says, For now, we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (I Cor. 13:12, KJV)
Looking at it from perhaps God’s perspective, I now understand why bad things happen to us. As bad as it feels, there is a good reason for our pain.
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What Does the Bible Say About Trusting God In Difficult Times?
Did you know the Bible says to count it all joy when we have a trial (James 1:2-4).
Really? Joy?
Trust AND joy. That is a lot to ask of a person. Check out these other verses about faith and how to trust God in difficult times.
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Psalms 34:17-18 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.
Psalm 9:9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
We can trust God in difficult times because He is good. You can clearly see this from the scriptures listed.
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How Do You Praise God In Difficult Times?
It is so hard to trust God in difficult times. Moreover, it is even more difficult to praise Him. Many times I play praise and worship music when I am going through a difficult time. It gets my mind off my problems and puts my focus on God.
I worship Him through the trial.
Another thing I do is pray. I love to pray scripture back to God Check out this post. It will help you understand how to do this.
Whatever you do, get the focus off of you and back on God. Realize He is good, and always wants to help you be the best person possible. Many times, He uses trials to make this happen.
How do you trust God in difficult times? Share it in the comments.
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Thank you for this beautiful post and very apt analogy. It is VERY hard in trials to wonder what you have done that needs such pruning. But posts like yours through the Holy Spirit help understand- every single one of us is going through that feels unbearable and yet our Lord Jesus Christ carries us through it and it the Father’s heart that prunes is to bear more excellent fruit. I am learning to surrender- learning that ‘thy will’ willl always be better than mine, learning to serve and ‘do good’- smile, have a kind word, not lose my joy and smile in trials n tribulations as that shows I am trusting God Almighty beyond my feelings, thinking, circumstances. He has brought me out of darkness before, He will do it again and as I cling to Him and choose Him in the darkness – He preserves my soul, upholds my spirit and guides me in the way I should go. I pray for wisdom and a humble heart to understand, believe and recieve.
This was a great post. The analogy was very helpful. It was biblical and practical all at the same time. Thank you!
Lisa, it is hard to trust God when we see everything around us falling apart. Nevertheless, God is still in control.
Thank you for this. I’ve been struggling so much as a foster parent to the point that I often want to quit. This is so encouraging. I know God is working in me and through me to make me what He wants me to be.
Crystal, I am so sorry. I wrote this post when I was knee-deep in a trial with my daughter. I can now look back and say it was the best thing that ever happened. And she would say the same thing. God has a way of using the most horrible situations for good. Keep praying even though it seems like an answer is not anywhere to be found. I highly recommend The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie O’Martian. My book is worn out. I used the prayers at the end of every chapter every day until I saw strongholds broken. Some of my prayers have taken years to come to fruition. You can do this! God has not left you.
I love it, such profound message. A lot of things have happened recently in my life and I keep asking myself what’s the message God is trying to teach me. I keep telling myself it’s God’s way of testing me and maybe preparing me for something great to come. I know he’s watching out for me. Thank you for this wonderful post.
Anna, I am so glad this was a meaningful word picture for you. I keep going back to it when I am having a difficult time with something. I know the Master Gardener loves his plants and he wants them to thrive, but it sure doesn’t feel like it when he starts cutting. I guess I would rather have some cutting than being cut down and thrown in the fire because I am useless! Thanks for your comment.
What an inspirational message here! Wow! God spoke to my heart through this. I need to share it. We – as a family – have been going through “surgery” lately. Many times we don’t understand why! and we get frustrated. But then we look up and we say, okay Lord, I trust you. I know you know better. Thank you for sharing this.
I am so glad God is using this post to help someone else. I never know if I am the only one getting surgery. Mentally, I have to keep going back to this word picture to understand God’s love. I am one of those that will start whining and wondering where God is in the mess.
I will pray for grace to help you through your trials. I am so sorry you have been hit. Just know it is God’s love that will hold you through until the end.
We had problems with squash bug in our garden too. very interesting way of connecting it with your faith..:)
Nature speaks in ways you can hear when maybe anything directly about God is offensive. Nature certainly does reflect life in so many ways. One has to wonder who is the Designer at some point!
It is amazing how all the truths are all arounds us, literally staring us in the face all the time, but we have to be willing to see it, then understand and embrace in order really learn from it. There are many simple messages, much like this one happening daily, but our lives are too busy and convoluted, to stop and see them, let alone understand or interrupt them. This is why so many of us are so lost and are easily lead astray.
Jen, I couldn’t have said that any better. We are busy little creatures who don’t stop and look at the life lessons right in front of us every day.
We must all go through hardships in order to learn and grow. Thank you so much for a wonderful post! Definitely made me think 🙂
Chantel, I am so glad it got you to think. I enjoy growing my readers as I grow.
Nature teaches us many things! It’s so good to read your experiences.
Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed it.
I love this analogy! It’s such a beautiful way of thinking about trials and hardships, and can even make you miraculously grateful for the hard times!
Yes, every time I start to doubt God’s love, I think about the ways He has worked in the past. His loving hand has always guided me through the terrible heartaches. He is there through the surgery.
What a beautiful, although sometimes painful truth! This has been a year of paring and pruning in my life. It has been painful at times. I have been praying for God to move in one specific area. Everything else I can take, but pressed in asking God to move because I believed it was his will. Yesterday, He did! It is so worth the pruning and paring when we know that God has His best interest at heart for us. Thanks for sharing!
What a wonderful thing to celebrate. I am so happy for you. God continues to prune so we have fruit some day. I like the fruit part, but the trail is not so fun for sure!
This is perfect and it has helped me on a bad day with my chronic illness!
I have struggled with Chrons disease for 18 years. I understand your pain. I am so sorry.
This is a beautiful illustration especially when paired with the Vine and Branches parable. We have to allow God to cultivate us so that we can grow healthy and bear fruit that lasts.
Yes, He is the vine and we are the branches. We get our life from Him. God is working even when we can’t see it. He wants us to have life and produce good fruit.
I’ll admit, I fell out of sycn when you started the analogy, even though I’m a garden lover! But I’m so glad I read this post. I absolutely have been having issues, money and house too. Thank you for the chat about trials, the Lord knows I need to reflect on His purposes in this.
Thanks for staying in there with me until the end. It is a long post. I had a lot to explain! I am so sorry about your trials. I pray God will wrap His loving arms around you and you find the meaning behind the pain.
Hi, it was such a blessing reading this post.. We all doubt and murmur when going through the trials without knowing that it is God’s way of showing Love to us. Thank you so So much!
Sara, thank you for your comment. I am so glad it blessed you. It is hard not to murmur when trials are upon us. I have to keep reminding myself that God is love. Everything He does runs through His loving hands. He does it with the utmost care and concern. I appreciate you reading this post.