Some questions don't have easy answers (or any answers at all). And being a Christian doesn't protect you from the endless loop of asking why. Why did you lose your job after everything you've poured into that company? Why did the cancer come back? Why does your teen keep making the same poor choices? Why can't you stop fighting with your spouse, even after months of counseling?
The Bible is full of people of faith who wrestled to make sense of what God was allowing. David prayed, "How long, O LORD?" (Psalm 13:1). Jeremiah questioned God, and Habakkuk asked God why He allowed injustices to happen. None of them pretended everything was fine, and God didn’t expect them to. He welcomed their raw, unchecked prayers.
But eventually, every one of them faced the same decision you do: Would they trust God even when they couldn't understand what He was doing? If you're in that kind of season, here are five ways to keep trusting Him when nothing in your life makes sense.
1. Focus on God's Character
When life doesn't make sense, it's almost second nature to slip into analyzing the why or pinpointing where things went wrong. Before long, your circumstances become the lens through which you see God. God doesn't tell you to trust your ability to figure things out. He tells you to trust Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." God is faithful. He is wise. He is good. He is loving. He sees what you cannot see. Your circumstances may be confusing, but God's character is not.
Try This: Write down three things about God’s character. The next time your circumstances tempt you to chase a rabbit trail of “whys,” read the list aloud to focus your mind on Who God is. He is more trustworthy than your understanding of your present situation.
2. Remember What God Has Done Before
The emotions of your current circumstances can cloud your past experiences with God. That's why looking back at how God showed up for you before can steady your trust now. Throughout Scripture, God's people paused to look back on His provision and goodness. After crossing the Jordan River, the Israelites stacked 12 stones as a memorial so future generations would ask, "What do these stones mean?" (Joshua 4:6). They wanted the story told long after the miracle had passed.
Looking backward won't explain your present, but it will remind you of His faithfulness. The God who provided, guided, comforted, and carried you before hasn’t stopped doing all of those things. Yesterday's faithfulness becomes evidence that He can be trusted with today.
Try This: Scroll on your phone and find a picture from a time when God showed up in your life when you weren't sure how things would work out. Save it as your lock screen, and let it be your stack of stones.
3. Continue Your Ordinary Acts of Obedience
When things in your life no longer make any sense, your faith practices can start to feel pointless. You pray, but nothing changes. You read your Bible but struggle to connect it to what you're going through. You try church, sing the songs, and head for home, still feeling lost and discouraged. Keep doing them anyway. Your everyday acts of faith are shaping your heart and mind.
Trust doesn't typically look like a dramatic leap of faith. More often, it looks like putting one foot in front of the other as He leads you somewhere you can’t see yet. Noah started to build the ark long before there was any visible evidence of an impending flood. Day after day, plank after plank, he simply kept doing the next thing God had asked him to do. You can’t see what God is building out of your life right now, but you can trust that He is.
Try This: Think about one spiritual habit you've been tempted to quit because it doesn't seem to be making a difference. Commit to it one more time today.
4. Release the Need to Understand Everything
We're so accustomed to instant answers that it's easy to assume every question has one. Need a recipe using the three things you have on hand? Try ChatGPT. Strange symptom? Google it. Weird noise your car is making? YouTube can diagnose.
But some answers belong only to God. That’s a hard truth to sit with. You want to know why the diagnosis came, why so many injustices are happening, or why He seems silent. Yet Scripture says, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
God doesn't ask you to trust because you'll eventually figure everything out (or because He's promised to explain if you wait long enough). He asks you to trust because His perspective reaches far beyond what you can see. He sees the beginning and the end at the same time. You see only the moment in front of you.
Try This: Think about one question you've been asking God over and over. Instead of asking "Why?" today, pray, "Lord, help me trust You even without the answer."
5. Fix Your Eyes on Jesus
If you're looking for proof that God is still working when nothing makes sense, look at the cross. To Jesus' disciples, Good Friday was the collapse of everything they believed. The Messiah had been arrested, beaten, and crucified. But what seemed like the darkest day in history was actually the moment God was accomplishing humanity's greatest redemption.
Hebrews 12:2 says to "fix our eyes on Jesus ... who for the joy set before him endured the cross." If He could bring salvation out of what looked like complete loss, He can bring purpose, growth, and even beauty out of the seasons in your life that don't make sense today. You may not understand what God is doing right now. But because of Jesus, you can trust that confusion is never the end.
Try This: Read the account of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection this week, and ask God to remind you that He's still at work in your life.
Choose to Trust Him in the Meantime
You may never get the explanation you're praying for. But you don't need to understand God's plan to choose to trust His heart and know He is with you. The season that makes no sense to you makes perfect sense to Him. And He's not finished yet.
