Introduction
In 2019, our 21-year-old granddaughter Anna, was in a four wheeler accident. The four wheeler fell on top of her and she stopped breathing. She was resuscitated but it had been too long and she was left in a vegetative state. She passed away about 6 months later. We were trusting God in a difficult situation to strengthen us.
Those six months were completely focused on Anna and what we could do to help her. She cried a lot, probably from the brain injury but that did not help our heart. We tried not to give up, but it was very difficult.
What is Trust in God in a Difficult Situation?
A usual question in situations like this is “How did you do it? We didn’t. Our strength came from our trust in Jesus Christ. The definition of the word “trust” according to Oxford Languages is “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.” “relations have to be built on trust”.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.”
We trust in Jesus Christ because of what He did for us. Realizing someone gave up their life for you and your sin makes a great impact on your ability to trust. Don’t get me wrong, we allow ourselves to become weighed down with life and our trust is weakened. Not because He not worthy of that trust, but because we have failed Him.
Then there is the day to day experience of seeing how worthy He is to be trusted.
When I would begin to think about Anna, I would get overwhelmed with missing her. The Lord was there to comfort my heart with His love and memories of her. He is reliable.
Psalm 28:7 NIV
“The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.”
What is Prayer’s Place in Trusting God in a Difficult Situation?
Psalm 50:15
“and call on me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
Prayer enabled us to have peace when we wanted to scream. When you have a relationship with someone you need to communicate. It’s the same with Jesus Christ. He knows what’s going on but wants us to talk to Him about it. This helped relieve our anxieties.
Knowing He loves us and is there for us is a comfort. He wants us to depend on Him and reach out when we need Him. We can trust God in difficult sitluations.
What is Another way to learn to Trust God in a Difficult Situation?
Psalm 1:1-3 NIV
“Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.”
Having an established time of devotion is essential. Day by day, reading His Word, we could see how to stay steady in our walk as we helped Anna.
Those who continue to read and study God’s Word are promised to be rich in bearing fruit for the Lord. We are blessed with help from the scripture.
Can We Be Real with God?
Another question is “can we be real with God in difficult situations?” Let’s look at the example of David.
Psalm 13:2 NIV
“How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?”
David, in his frustration is looking for answers from God. He expresses his feelings even though God knows His situation.
“But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.”
This happens in the Psalms quite a bit. As the Psalmist progresses in the prayer, his distress turns into joy.
So, is it alright to be up front with God? Yes, in a respectful way. Through communicating with Him, He sees our willingness to listen and helps us in our vulnerability. He wants to know how we feel.
What does God say about sorrow?
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
In these verses, God is comfort and wants us to come to Him in our distress for peace no one else can give.
“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.”
As believers in Jesus Christ we have hope because we know we will see our loved ones again. Death is not the end. Because of this, we grieve in a different way. We grieve with God’s hope.
Conclusion
I don’t want you to get the wrong picture, we grieved. We cried lots of tears. We still have moments of grief and always will because we love and miss Anna.
The difference is we also want to have joy in our memories of her. The Lord gives us that joy and we are thankful.
Anna is the reason I began this ministry, to share with you who are or have experienced these same moments. I want to remind you God offers hope and peace in these trials. I would love for you to tell me what questions you have or what subjects would help you. Remember too that grief and distress come in different packages. Loss of a job, bad relationships are among these. This will help me know which direction to go, after all this is about you. Please leave these in the comments.
I now have a podcast “From Loss to Hope”. You can listen in any of the podcast hosts or connect to it on my website, jackiestubblefield.com/podcast.
Such encouraging words! Thank you for sharing your journey. Praying for you all as you walk through your loss. 💕🙏💕