When What God Is Doing Doesn’t Make Sense

There are times when trusting God feels fairly straightforward. We know what the right thing is, the next step makes sense, and we can see at least a little of where the road is going.

Then there are the other times.

You pray, read Scripture, try to make a wise decision, and still find yourself thinking, God, I don’t understand this.

That is where Abraham is in Genesis 22. God had promised that His covenant would continue through Isaac, and now Abraham was walking toward Moriah with the very son through whom that promise was supposed to be fulfilled. From Abraham’s point of view, those two things simply did not fit together. Yet he kept walking.

I don’t think Abraham’s obedience came from having everything figured out. Hebrews tells us something much more interesting: Abraham trusted the character of God enough to obey while there were still pieces he could not make sense of. That is a very different kind of trust.

Scripture

“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told his servants. “The boy and I will go over there to worship, and then we will return to you.”
— Genesis 22:5, BSB

Reflection

There is a small word in Abraham’s statement that is easy to read right past.

We.

Abraham told the servants, “We will return to you.”

He knew what God had asked him to do. He also knew what God had already promised about Isaac. Somehow Abraham was holding both of those things at the same time.

Hebrews 11 helps us understand how.

It tells us that Abraham reasoned that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead. In other words, Abraham did not know how God was going to resolve what appeared to be an impossible contradiction, but he believed God would remain faithful to His promise.

That is important because trust is sometimes mistaken for certainty.

We think trusting God should mean we understand His plan or feel completely confident about what comes next. But Abraham didn’t have either of those things. What he had was a growing knowledge of God.

He had watched God keep promises before and had waited years for Isaac to be born. He had seen God provide when there seemed to be no way forward. He had also learned the hard way what happened when he tried to hurry God’s plan along himself.

So when Abraham reached something he could not understand, he leaned on what he already knew about God. That is often where obedience begins for us too. Sometimes we know what Scripture teaches, but following it feels harder in the situation we are actually facing. Forgiving someone may make sense when we read about forgiveness, but it feels very different when we have been deeply hurt. Being honest sounds simple until telling the truth may cost us something. Waiting on God sounds beautiful until we are the one who has been waiting far longer than we expected.

We can know what God says and still struggle with what obedience looks like when the outcome is uncertain. Abraham’s story reminds us that we do not have to understand everything God is doing before we trust Him with the next step.

That does not mean blindly following every thought, feeling, or circumstance and calling it God’s direction. We still bring what we believe God is asking us to do back to Scripture, prayer, wisdom, and the character of God.

But when His Word is clear and our understanding is not, there may come a point when trust has to move from what we believe in our heads into the way we actually live.

Abraham kept walking toward Moriah because he trusted that the God who made the promise was also capable of keeping it. He did not know how. For the moment, knowing Who was enough.

How Jesus Meets Us

Jesus never asks us to trust someone we do not know. He invites us to trust Him.

And the more we know His character, the more we have something solid to hold onto when life stops making sense.

That does not mean difficult circumstances suddenly become easy. There may still be questions, fear, disappointment, or days when you wonder whether you heard God correctly. Jesus meets us in those questions.

He is patient with us while we work through them, and He continues showing us who He is through His Word and through the ways He has already been faithful. Sometimes the next act of obedience will feel small. You may need to tell the truth about something you have been avoiding. You may need to forgive without knowing whether the relationship will ever be repaired. You may need to wait instead of forcing a solution simply because you are tired of not knowing what happens next.

You may not understand what God is doing with the whole story. Maybe He is not asking you to understand the whole story today. Maybe He is asking you to trust Him with the part that is in front of you.

Take a Moment With Him

Think about the place in your life where you keep saying, This doesn’t make sense.

You do not have to pretend that it does. Bring that exact place to Jesus.

You might ask:

“Jesus, what do I already know about You that I can hold onto here?”

Then think about what Scripture has shown you about His character.

Is He faithful?

Is He good?

Does He keep His promises?

Does He stay with His people when they are afraid or confused?

Sometimes the answer we need first is not an explanation of the circumstances. What we may need is  to remember who God is while we wait for the circumstances to make sense.

Prayer

Jesus, there are things in my life right now that I simply do not understand. I would like to know how everything is going to turn out before I take another step, but I know that is not always how trust works.

Help me hold onto what I already know about You when I cannot understand what You are doing. Give me wisdom to recognize what You are asking of me and courage to obey when Your Word is clear but the outcome is not.

Keep me from rushing ahead because I am uncomfortable with uncertainty, and keep me close enough to You that I learn to recognize Your voice more clearly. When I cannot see how everything fits together, help me trust Your character and take the next faithful step with You.

In Jesus’ Name, amen.

Reflection Questions

1. What part of your life feels the hardest to understand right now, and what are you most afraid might happen if things do not turn out the way you hope?

2. When you cannot make sense of what God is doing, do you tend to wait for more certainty, try to control the outcome, or move ahead on your own? What does that response reveal about where trust is difficult for you?

3. What have you already learned about God’s character through Scripture or your own history with Him that you need to remember in this situation?

4. Is there a next step you already know is faithful or wise, even though you cannot see what will happen after you take it?

Remember This

Trusting God does not mean you understand everything He is doing. Sometimes trust simply means you know enough about His character to take the next faithful step while the rest of the story is still unclear.

Today’s Faith Step

Write down the situation you are having the hardest time understanding right now.

Underneath it, finish this sentence:

“Even though I don’t understand __________, I know God is __________.”

Fill in that second blank with something you know to be true about His character from Scripture.

Then ask yourself one simple question:

What would trusting Jesus look like today?

Do not try to solve the whole situation. Choose one faithful step you can take today and leave the outcome with Him.