Stories of Faith | Learning to Trust God

One minute we were talking and laughing, and then it was silent.

Actually, there may have been a lot of noise and screams, but I don’t remember any of that. All I remember was a loud boom, airbags exploding, and smoke from the chemical in the airbags. 

And silence. 

I felt my shoulders surrounded as if the seat were wrapping around me and enveloping me in its protection. In the silence, I knew I had to trust God with whatever was happening. I knew that if my time on this earth was finished, I was ready for eternity with Jesus. Instead of panic, there was silence, and there was peace.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). I’d memorized Philippians 4:7 early in my journey with Christ. However, I never could capture what it meant until that day. This moment with my car totally out of my control was beyond my understanding, but the peace that invaded my soul guarded my heart and my mind. I knew Jesus was with me and for me, regardless of the circumstances or the outcome of this life-changing moment. 

Some people struggle to believe in miracles. I’ve never really had that issue, but I think for much of my life, I thought miracles were for someone else. However, on that day, my miracle and the peace that surpasses all understanding came in the form of a terrible car wreck.

As some friends and I were driving to a birthday celebration lunch, a lady pulled out in front of us. As airbags deployed, my car stopped between a fire hydrant, a tree, and an electrical pole. The fact that we could all walk away was a miracle in itself. In shock, and with lots of bruising, I went on to the emergency room to be checked out as a precaution. They were looking for internal bleeding, fractures, or anything unusual. The scans picked up everything. They discovered I had a kidney stone and something else. After tests and biopsies for several weeks, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. They said it was against the chest wall and would likely never have been discovered on a mammogram. A totaled car, unplanned scans, a miracle. Yes, it was breast cancer, but the fact it was discovered under such odd circumstances due to a car wreck … miraculous. 

It has been four years, and it is hard to explain the many ways the Lord stretched and strengthened my faith in the weeks, months, and years that followed that day. But I learned about trusting God and His sovereignty during that season. The book of Job became a place where I found refuge in God’s Word. 

Here are a few things I learned about trusting God as my story of faith continues:

1. Trust God in the good and bad of life. Because of sin, life has suffering, pain, sorrow, and disappointment. Often, we do not have control over our circumstances. But I know I will walk through the challenges of life with or without Jesus. I have made a conscious decision to choose to walk through whatever I face with Jesus. Job refused to get bogged down in trying to understand the reasons why calamity had come into his life and instead simply trusted God. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” (Job 2:10). 
2. Trust God and learn from Him through the circumstances. “God is wise and all-powerful. Who has opposed him and come out unharmed?” (Job 9:4). What if the circumstances and situations I face are for my good? What if the circumstances are an honor? What if God is trusting me with this difficult situation? God has not brought me this far to leave me. “You gave me life and faithful love, and your care has guarded my life” (Job 10:12). What can I learn from God through this experience and this part of my faith journey? 
3. Trust God even when there are no answers. (And the odds are that the understanding I seek never comes.) When the Lord spoke to Job in Job 38, God never answered Job’s questions. God does not answer to us. God has a greater plan and purpose that we may never understand. I can’t impose my definitions of good and evil upon God. God is God, and I am not. Trusting God, obeying Him, needs to be my first and only response even when I can’t answer the why questions.
4. Trust God with humility. “I am so insignificant. How can I answer you? I place my hand over my mouth” (Job 40:4). God wants us to humble ourselves. He has the final word. I need to trust that God can do anything. He is able. I need to trust He is always at work even when I can’t see how He is working and moving. I need to live knowing that God’s plan for me is unstoppable. He knows the number of hairs on my head and the number of my days. 
5. Trust God with the impossible. “I know that you can do anything and no plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). There is not one single person or anything that has the power to stop God’s plan—not a car wreck, not cancer, nor anything else unless He allows it. God can take care of any problem in my life. What I may perceive as a setback in life may actually be a setup for God to demonstrate His power through me. 

I like to hold up my hand and count off the five ways I’ve learned to trust God beginning with my thumb. It is simple, and some might consider it childish, but for me, the actions help me remember what God has taught me about trusting Him in faith. 

1. Trust God in the good and bad of life. My thumb can give the thumbs-up or the thumbs-down: thumbs-up, good for my life, walking with Jesus; thumbs-down, bad for my life, walking without Jesus. 
2. Trust God and learn from Him through the circumstances. My pointer finger points up to God, reminding me to look to Him in trust.
3. Trust God even when there are no answers. (And the odds are that the understanding I seek never comes.) My middle finger reminds me that, like being stuck in the middle of a situation or failing to understand which way to go, I can trust God. He will not leave me stuck in the middle but will guide me in the way I should go.
4. Trust God with humility. My ring finger reminds me that humility comes from a heart that is right with God. When I trust God with my whole heart, humility comes easier.
5. Trust God with the impossible. My pinky finger is weak. I don’t lift anything with my pinky. But my pinky finger reminds me that no matter what I face or how heavy the load is, God brings strength for the seemingly impossible. 

My story of faith in learning to trust God is still fresh in my mind and in my heart. I learned firsthand how life can change in a blink of an eye. But I also learned that where there is trust, there is peace. I’m praying that you will trust God more as you continue your journey of faith—“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).