God, I Don’t Know What You’re Doing, but I Trust You

1 Peter 3:8-22

“For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil” 1 Peter 3:17

Imagine if the moment we accept Christ into our hearts, we are granted the “superpower” of seeing into the future. Suddenly, we know everything that happens in our lives from that point on. There is no more wondering what God is doing, no more questions, no more suffering, no more doubting – everything becomes clear. I think deep down, this is what all of us want. We want answers. We want to know how the story ends, and we want to take the path with the least amount of suffering to get there.

But what if God cares about us too much to give us the answers we so desperately crave? Remaining faithful to God and walking in obedience is far from easy, especially when it costs you something. There have been times where I’ve begged God to let me have things my way when deep down, I knew that He was pulling me in a different direction. Fortunately, He loves us enough to give us what we need, not what we want.

If it wasn’t for suffering, loss, disappointment, heartbreak, confusion etc, we would never be able to understand the depth of God’s care. He cares enough to allow us to suffer in order to teach our hearts how to fully rely on Him. In this passage, Peter references Noah, giving us a beautiful example of what it looks like to walk in obedience even when it doesn’t make sense. Noah built the ark with no signs of the flood coming, likely facing ridicule from those around him.

Sometimes our steps of obedience don’t make sense to those around us, or even to us. We don’t always know right away what God is doing, and in the moment, it’s hard – but what a beautiful opportunity to turn our eyes to Him saying,

God, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I trust you.

I don’t know where you’re taking me, but I trust you.

I don’t yet understand, but I trust you.

Even in the waiting – I trust you.

Even when it doesn’t make sense – I trust you.

Even when everything seems to be falling apart – I trust you.

And remember, the greatest thing that has ever happened, Jesus dying for our sins and defeating death, involved a great deal of suffering and waiting. The most beautiful gifts from God are oftentimes on the other side of something hard. At the end of the day, the suffering that comes from walking in obedience to the Lord, is never wasted, and will always lead us closer to God’s heart and His perfect plan for us.

Carmen K