How to Trust in God When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

It doesn’t matter how long a person has been walking with God—if they tell you they never struggle with trusting in God, duck, because their nose is about to grow.

Whether you are new to your Christian faith or have been walking with the Lord for decades, trusting in God can be one of the most challenging of all the spiritual disciplines. This is especially true if it feels like all hell is breaking loose in your life.

How can you trust in a God you can’t see or sense when all the evidence in your life seems to suggest that He doesn’t care about you?

I get it. Growing up and even into my late adult years, the only thing I thought I could trust was myself. I had been hurt and let down so many times I lost count. But I was a fighter, a classic type-A personality, so I kept pressing forward.

Like so many people do, I grew to rely on my own intellect, intuition, and strength. I thought I was doing a great job of surviving. What I didn’t see for so long was just how much of a mess I was making of my life.

Thankfully I developed that habit of trusting God and ever since, my life has been one transformation story after another. Still, learning to trust God wasn’t always easy.

I wish I could say there was a magic solution to instantly learning to trust God. There isn’t one.

However, I have found that working these five transformative habits into my daily routine changed my heart from doubting Him to trusting Him.

Transformative Trusting Habit #1: Study His Word

Romans 10:17 reminds us that, “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” After all, how can you expect to trust someone you don’t know? The key to knowing God is knowing His Word. The Holy Scriptures show you exactly how much He loves you, what your purpose is in life, how to conduct yourself, and what His promises are for you. You will have an easier time trusting God once you know His Word.

Transformative Trusting Habit #2: Talk to Him

Trust in God is near impossible if you don’t have a relationship with Him. Relationships are give and take; they require dialogues. So the next time you are tempted to spout out a few memorized prayers to God and call it a day, remember, God wants you to get to know each other. Speak to Him from your heart.

Transformative Trusting Habit #3: Stop Sinning

Of course, no one is perfect and everyone can be forgiven. But if you are stuck in old patterns of doing things that are not glorifying to God and not good for you, STOP. Sin puts a wedge between you and God, so the very distance that you feel coming from God may not be because He can’t be trusted but because He can’t condone your sinning. Stop what you’re doing so you can restore your relationship with Him, and watch your trust in Him deepen naturally.

Transformative Trusting Habit #4: Think Different

Romans 12:2 says that you are not to conform to the ways of this world but be transformed by the “renewing of your mind.” That means that you need to train yourself to think differently. You likely grew up in dysfunctional environments that taught you to accept lies as truth. When you renew your mind by challenging the lies you have learned to tell yourself over the years, you clear out mental obstacles to trusting God.

Transformative Trusting Habit #5: Learn to Lean

Proverbs 3:5 tell us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” For many years I leaned on my own insights and my own understanding. What’s the problem with being self-reliant, you ask? We are limited in many ways, but God is not. We may think our lives are a disaster, but He has a bigger plan. Put your own opinions and worries aside and trust God to take care of your situation, especially when you feel you’re not getting anywhere. As God begins to show Himself to be faithful (and He always does), your level of trusting God will grow.

Learning to trust God takes time, but that’s OK—God has all the time in the world!

If you struggling with trust in God, the way you think may be the culprit. Want to know if your negative thoughts are getting in the way of a happy life? Take the “How Toxic are Your Thoughts” quiz to understand how much your thinking is holding you back.

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