If you’re struggling to understand God’s ways today, here is some encouragement for you.

You weren’t made to understand the infinite things of God. You were made to trust Him.

Look with me at Romans 11:33-36,

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Does this sound like the mind you and I were made to have along with God? Or does it sound like the incomparable mind that only the One who created all could have? So like the apostle Paul who wrote Romans, when we don’t understand the ways of God, we can throw up our hands in worship, trusting Him as the Potter and ourselves as the clay.

We can join the Psalmist who says in Psalm 92:5:

How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep!

God is loving and kind. Everything going on in your life is for His glory and your good.

We always think of Romans 8:28 when we meditate on this concept,

And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

And that’s good and right because that’s a wonderful verse in Scripture explaining that God is working all things out in His way for His purposes. But don’t miss the reasons He is working all things out – for good.

It’s not the good we think should be our good, but the good He sovereignly knows with His infinite mind that comprehends all time at once.

If I picked my good it might be some cute news clothes, a hair appointment, my favorite show to not be out of season at the moment, a big latte with grass-fed milk and a new book.

But the good Romans 8 is talking about is to make us look more like the image of Jesus Christ His Son as the Spirit transforms us from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18).

To bring this point home, I love the way A.W. Tozer says it.“When I understand that everything happening to me is to make me more Christlike, it resolves a great deal of anxiety.”

He is with you in struggle and hardship. He doesn’t leave you.

He didn’t promise a life without hardship, but He did promise He would be with us in the hardship (Matthew 28:20), and His presence is our good (Psalm 73:28 and Psalm 16:11).

I think about the beauty of Psalm 23 and how David still walked through the valley of the shadow of death and had a table set for him in the presence of his enemies.

The suffering was a part of his life. But God was always with Him.

Of course, we don’t want suffering. We don’t wish it upon ourselves or others. We know it is a part of life on this side of the curse (Genesis 3) and that one day, God will make everything new (Revelation 21:5). In the meantime, we trust in His precious promises and bank on His character that never changes.

If He promised to be with us and do everything for our good and His glory, we walk in that truth.

We follow the wisdom of this quote often attributed to Charles Spurgeon, “God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.”

Culture will tell us we can push past our limitations, master our destiny, and somehow control the uncontrollable, but after ten seconds of trying, we know we weren’t meant to live that way.

Sister, if you’re struggling to trust the ways of God today, be encouraged that it is okay. God is not unaware of your heart (Psalm 56:8). We are living in the already but not yet, where we are saved by God and have the Holy Spirit, but we still live in this broken tent on earth with broken bodies.

He calls you to come to Him, and He will give you rest for your soul (Matthew 11:28). He says in this world we will have trouble, but He has overcome the world (John 16:33).

When we fix our minds on Him, we have peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7 and Isaiah 26:3).

Meditate on these truths and talk through them with a friend by using these questions for reflection:

• Think about Romans 11:33-36. What do you see recorded about God’s character? How does this call you to worship Him? How is the character of God unlike us?
• Do you believe it’s true God doesn’t leave you alone in hardship? How have you seen God be with you in trials before? Let His past faithfulness give you courage.
• In what areas of your life are you struggling to trust God’s promises? Confess your unbelief to our Heavenly Father and spend time in His Word and in prayer working through your doubts. You can use the Scriptures found in this email to help guide you.
• Who can you invite into your hardship with you? Struggling internally without telling others often leaves us feeling helpless. We need each other! Also, do you know a sister in Christ who might need your encouragement during a time of hardship in her life? Commit to praying for her and seeing how she’s doing.

If you found this post encouraging, make sure to sign up for the Warmly Wednesdays email devotionals for truth-filled content straight to your inbox weekly.