Trusting when things don’t go well

"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."

Proverbs 3:5,6

You prayed that your husband would get the position, and after the third interview, it seems that he’s got it wrapped up. Then at the last minute, a local man shows up, who can be hired for considerably less money. He gets the job. Your husband gets a polite "Thanks, but no thanks" phone call.

What you want, what you pray about doesn’t always happen. So what do you do? Change companies? Turn your back on God and quit? Hang in there, but put prayer on the back burner of your heart, reserved only for times of absolute desperation?

Now if you are expecting me to come up with a few neat cliches or soothing words, giving you all the answers, forget it. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to understand these things, but I have come to some conclusions. Try the following:

1) You don’t give up on God when He doesn’t snap His fingers and make everything happen at your whim and cry–at least, not if you’re wise. I serve and worship the Almighty because He is sovereign and Lord, because He is God, not because of what I get out of the relationship. The whole idea is that trusting Him, no matter what the outcome, is the way that makes for the smoothest path in life.

2) I have had to learn that ours is an imperfect, broken world. Of course, I don’t understand everything. There is no logic in the fact that one girl aborts an unborn child when her neighbor would give almost anything to conceive. Of course, these things are painful. That’s when we learn to "mourn with those who mourn" (Romans 12:15). But I still believe that God has His payday someday.

3) When things don’t always come together, I remind myself that God has a plan and purpose beyond that which I can see. We give up far too soon, and place far too much importance on the immediate–something that you can not always understand when you are young. I’ve found that the promises of the Bible bring comfort when I lack understanding because God’s nature is goodness and love. I’ve also learned that impatience is not a virtue, and most of my mistakes in life have been because I gave up on God’s doing something and decided to do it myself.

4) Furthermore, I have learned that when doors close, it may have nothing to do with my ability to get a job done. So, I’m going to keep on trusting God and doing my very best. The path to the top is not a straight line. But when my goals are what I think God wants done, I’m going to keep on knocking on doors, making calls, and to keep on believing in God, myself, and my friends. I believe Solomon was right when he affirmed, "He will direct your path."Resource Reading: Proverbs 3:1-12