Believing in God is a funny journey.
There are some times where life is great and you’re praying all the time and you’re feeling great because you’re in sync with God. Other times, not so much. Other times you feel like you are stumbling blindly in the dark, not really knowing what you’re supposed to be doing or where you’re supposed to be going.
You’re frustrated. You’re confused. You’re feeling like everything you do is kind of pointless because you feel like you aren’t getting an answer from God. When you’re going through this struggle, and you’re feeling like God isn’t listening, look to these verses for encouragement.
1. 1 Peter 5:7(NLT).
Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you
Rely on God in these hard times! It’s so easy to slip away and look for other solutions when you’re feeling ignored by God. He. Is. Not. Ignoring. You. He is telling you ‘not yet’. He is teaching you patience and trust. Share with Him your struggles and stresses, and He will show you how loved you are by Him.
2. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV).
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
God doesn’t see weakness as a problem. He uses times of weakness in order to bring you closer to Him. In bringing you closer to Him, your weakness will soon melt away as you learn to instead draw upon His strength. So God wants us to be glad in our times of weakness, because He is giving us a great opportunity to grow closer to Him.
3. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV).
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
God knows what He's doing, even when you do not. His plan makes sense in the end, even when we have endless questions and can't find a way out. He knows what is going to happen, and He knows it is going to be so, so good for you.
4. James 1:2-4 (NLT).
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Be glad that you are going through a rough patch! It shows that you are strong, and that you are growing stronger. When you inevitably make it out of this rough patch, you will be all the stronger because God has guided you through this with purpose.
5. Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV).
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with endurance the race God has marked out before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that awaited him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart
This verse has one of the most comforting reminders of all. Jesus knows how it feels to feel like the world is against you. He went through it Himself. While on the cross, Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) The Son of God knows how it feels. Who better to take your worries and feelings of abandonment than to someone who has also been through it?
