Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.
Isaiah 50:10 (NIV)
It is one thing to trust God when we think we have a fairly good idea of what is happening in our lives, or when we think we have things all figured out and a plan in place that will open the door for us to get what we want. However, it is another thing entirely when we have no light regarding our circumstances or future.
Charles Spurgeon said, “To trust God in the light is nothing, but to trust Him in the dark—that is faith.”10 Man has an almost unquenchable desire to know things. He wants to be well informed because he believes it gives him a measure of control over his life. But when we enter into a relationship with God, we are to relinquish control and trust Him to direct our path. Most of us won’t do that without some help from God, so He helps us! He allows us to get into situations that we cannot figure out, and He chooses not to give us the answers when we would like them. Life is filled with many mysteries, and our choices on how to handle them are limited. We may frustrate and confuse ourselves trying to gain understanding regarding things that are hidden in the knowledge of God alone, or we can search the minds of other people, asking for their insight on what is taking place in our lives. While that may help sometimes, it may also increase our confusion. The quickest path to peace is to learn to trust God. I believe that trusting God is one of the ways that we show honor to Him. It shows respect, and declares that we believe His Word and trust His character.
The spirit of fear is the root of our insatiable desire to have all the answers to life. We want to know what is coming up next and exactly how things will turn out for us in the future. We don’t want any surprises, at least none that are not completely joyous.
Although there are many things that God does give us insight into, He does not do so all the time, and when He doesn’t, we have trust as our “go-to” fail-safe. When we trust God and we are willing to be patient, we will see that He never fails us.
I realize that not knowing is rather disconcerting and causes stress. Our minds flit from one thing to another, trying to find anything that makes sense, but oddly enough, even when we do think we have things all figured out, we may still be wrong. We like everything tucked away in a nice little space in our lives, but there are times when our lives are messy rather than tidy. Nobody, including God, is doing what we want, and all we feel is frustration. At numerous times in my life, I have based my expectations on what I thought was going to take place, and then been distraught when it didn’t turn out that way.
These types of situations can be used as our pathway to learning, but in order for that to happen, we must calm down and ask God to show us where we went wrong in our thinking. For me, I usually find that I made plans according to what I wanted to see take place, instead of even considering what God might want.
The most basic step of faith we can take regarding our situations in life is saying, “Lord, this is what I would like to see happen, but may Your will be done and not mine!”
In the early days of my ministry, I chose a group of friends whom I thought would work with me and help in the birthing of the things God had revealed to me that I would do as a teacher of His Word. Please notice that I said that I chose them. I did so without prayer or even acknowledging God in my ways. When Jesus chose His disciples (the men who were to work with Him), He prayed all night before making those choices (see Luke 6:12–13).
The people I chose were not God’s choice, and it turned out to be a disaster that caused me a great deal of personal emotional pain. They gossiped about me, lied, made false accusations, and nearly derailed me before I got much of a start in pursuing my destiny.
The choices we make regarding who we will associate with are important, especially if we are to be yoked with them in a close and personal way. Satan often uses people, even Christians, to wound and weaken us. People may be sincere and yet be sincerely wrong. This group of people thought they were hearing things from God about me that absolutely were not true, and their pride ultimately became their downfall.
Through many such situations in life, I learned the hard way that prayer should precede every important decision that we make. Our presumption and assumption are not pleasing to God! Don’t make the mistake of planning and then praying that God will make your plans work. Pray first and let the Holy Spirit guide you into all of God’s good will for your life.
The apostle Paul was a highly educated man and yet he came to a place in his life where he said, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2 [NKJV]). In presenting the Gospel to people, he told them that salvation through Christ was a mystery and a secret of God, but that he had chosen to believe it instead of trying to understand it. There are countless people who refuse to enjoy the benefits of simple, childlike faith. They want to mentally understand all the intricacies of the cross of Christ and salvation through Him, but it can only be understood with the heart, not the mind.
If we have no unanswered questions in our lives, then there is no need for faith. We might say that faith often takes the place of answers! We should seek to know the Word, to know God, and to know His will instead of endlessly seeking to know all the answers regarding our circumstances. When people ask what we are going to do when we encounter a problem, we can simply say, “I don’t know.” Tell people you are praying about everything and that you are assured in your heart that God will give you direction at just the right time. Even if you sound a bit more confident than you actually are, it is still good to voice your faith. If we choose to trust God, our feelings will eventually catch up with our decision.
There is certainly nothing wrong with seeking answers to the mysteries in our lives, but when we become confused or frustrated, that is a sign that we have gone too far in our quest.
People experience a lot of confusion in life, and I believe most of it comes from an out-of-balance need to know everything. Can you have faith in God while you are in the dark and have no understanding concerning your current situation? That is the kind of faith that God is looking for. He wants us to trust Him, especially when we are in the dark, or when life is a mystery and we don’t see Him working or feel His presence. These times are actually good for us because they help us grow in faith. The Bible speaks of little faith and great faith, so why should we be satisfied with little faith when we can develop great faith through trusting God in difficult times?
I was watching a movie recently that involved two FBI agents with different levels of clearance. One seemed to be privy to information about a case that the other one wasn’t aware of, and when he asked for information, he was told that it was given on a “need to know” basis. In other words, the only people being informed of the details in the case were those who really needed to know.
I think God operates with us on that basis also. If we need to know something, we can always be assured that He will tell us, but if we don’t need to know, or it is better for us not to know, then He won’t tell us, and we can, and should, learn to be satisfied with that.
The knowledge of some things can burden our souls and cause us to worry and be anxious, and none of us need that. In those times, not knowing can be very peaceful! I was talking on the phone with someone last week and a certain distasteful subject came up regarding immorality in the life of a person we both know. We were talking, but also being careful not to gossip or say things that were unnecessary. My friend asked me a question about the situation, and before I could even consider whether or not to answer, she said, “Never mind, I don’t need to know that.”
I thought that showed spiritual maturity, and it can be an example to all of us. There is a difference between wanting to know something out of curiosity or wanting to control situations, and wanting to know because we truly need to know. Instead of getting confused and frustrated while trying to reason and question things in life, why not simply trust God to work with us on a “need to know” basis?
There are situations in the Bible where man is told to reason with God, but those do not refer to trying to find out things that God is not yet ready to reveal. Here are two scriptural examples that show the difference between reasoning in the will of God and out of the will of God.
Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.
Isaiah 1:18 (AMPC)
Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
Proverbs 3:5 (AMPC)
Once again, I want to be clear that it is not wrong to ask God questions. He often likes to reason with us. But don’t ever let healthy reasoning become unhealthy or ungodly. Let peace be the umpire in your life (see Colossians 3:15). In other words, let peace be the deciding factor as to whether or not God is pleased with your questions.
Fear will take over if we allow ourselves to be convinced that there is no solution to our problem. How often do we say or hear others say, “There is just no way this is going to work out”? Just because we don’t know the way doesn’t mean that there is no way. Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Way” (John 14:6). Isaiah said God “will lead the blind by ways they have not known” (Isaiah 42:16 [NIV]). God is capable of leading us in the dark, because the dark is the same as light to Him. We may be in the dark about what is going on, but God is light so He never dwells in darkness. The psalmist David, in writing one of the greatest chapters in the Bible about trusting God completely, said:
If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me and the night shall be [the only] light about me,
Even the darkness hides nothing from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.
Psalm 139:9–12 (AMPC)
When we have had a long season of trials, or we are facing something extremely difficult, it is not uncommon to become discouraged and start thinking that this is going to be our permanent condition in life. We think things like: This is never going to stop. I’ve done everything I know to do and nothing is working. There just seems to be no way! But God has a different story to tell. He says:
Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:18–19 (AMPC)
These Scriptures have encouraged me many different times in my life, and I pray they will do the same for you. When you’re hurting, remember that God will make a way!
Think of a time in your life when He has made a way for you when there seemed to be no way, and remember that He will do it again! His ways are not our ways, but as Isaiah said, He can make a way even in a wilderness, and He can bring a river in the desert times of our lives.
Even when we decide to believe that He will make a way, it may bring us to another question: “When will He do it?” Only God knows for sure, and most of the time when we ask Him, He doesn’t seem interested in giving us an answer. That must be because He wants us to trust Him.