Is anyone else feeling overwhelmed by the number of things piling on top of you? You’ve got five hundred things to complete by sundown, and you never seem to have enough time, money, resources, energy, etc., to make sure every box is checked off. Yeah, me too, friend. I graduated from college, got married, moved to a new city, and started a new job all in one month. It’s one thing to feel like you trust in God that He would help you through some random thing that might happen in the future. It’s another to trust in God when you’re right in the middle of too much month, not enough paycheck; too many tasks, not enough time; too many problems, not enough solutions; too much pain, not enough strength. So how do we still trust in God—especially when we just don’t have enough?
Trusting in God means choosing to believe God will provide even before you see the miracle.
Just before we got married and made our big move, my husband, Zach, found out he would be losing his job due to a company setback. I think our initial reaction was to panic and start worrying. But living by faith meant we had to trust in God, even when it was hard and we didn’t understand. We had to choose to believe that God would still provide. Trusting in God means choosing to believe God will provide even before you see the miracle.
Does that mean we can chill and just wait for God to work a miracle? Well, yes and no. Yes, we can be chill while we wait, but we also need to make sure we’re actively searching for doors God wants us to walk through. We need to work and rest, appropriately. In other words, we don’t need to be frenzied, hopeless, or overwhelmed. We reach out to our friends, family, and church body for guidance or suggestions, and we certainly can’t be too proud to ask for aid when emergency help is needed. We reassess our budgets (again, ask for help on this one if it sounds scary). We continue to honor God with whatever time, talents, and treasure He’s given us—even when they feel scarce. It’s not about what we give. It’s about keeping our minds fixed on God as provider, and our hearts in loving obedience to Him.
So, back to Zach and me. We continued to work hard and trust God. Every time doubt, fear, or panic tried to push us under, we encouraged each other to trust that God would walk us through this time of change. Several weeks after Zach’s job loss, my freelance design company started raking in some extra income, which helped us put down deposits for our new home and moving expenses. I was also offered a full-time job that week (hello, miracle)! We prayed for a miracle, and God answered. It just didn’t look the way we originally thought it would.
Even when we don’t have enough, in reality, we actually do. Why? Because we’re in God’s hands. He has enough. He can lead us to His provision for us. Sometimes it seems like it’s taking too long, but it will arrive in God’s time, not ours. Think of the story in 1 Kings when God promised Elijah that He would bring rain. It was during a severe drought, so people must’ve already been discouraged and desperate for some kind of miracle. Later that day, without a cloud in sight, Elijah told his servant seven times to go look for a sign of rain. Can you imagine how discouraging that may have been not to see a sign until the seventh trip? Have you been searching for your promise again and again, finding nothing? Here’s the key point: Elijah didn’t put his trust in seeing a rain cloud—he put his trust in God. You can, too. God is with us. He is good. And we can trust that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him—even when His work is imperceptible to us.
My father-in-law always says, “We may not always have what we want, but God will always give us what we need.” God’s provision in our lives may not always look like we expect it to. That’s why we have to trust in God before we see the miracle.