My Father Is Always Working… Even in the Hard Things

I don’t know about you, but when I walk through hard things, disappointment, or deep sorrow, I don’t always know how to feel. I want to honor God in every part of my life. I want to love Him with all my heart, soul, and strength, like Deuteronomy 6:5 says and Jesus repeats in Matthew 22:37. But that can be hard when our hearts hurt.

Over the years, I’ve found myself praying a simple prayer:

“Father, teach me how to live Your way.”

My life hasn’t always been easy. There have been losses, disappointments, tragedy, unanswered questions, and things I never would have chosen. I’m guessing you have some of those things in your life too. But my life has also been very rich. Jesus has faithfully walked with me. He has given me family and dear friends to walk with, and He keeps teaching me who He is.

Hard things are still hard. We don’t have to pretend they aren’t. But I have experienced God meeting me there. I believe He will meet you too.

Something I Started Noticing

As I read the Bible, I began noticing something. There are a lot of hard stories.

Adam and Eve knew heartbreak. Noah had to trust God when people didn’t understand him. Abraham and Sarah waited a long time for something God had promised.

Moses spent forty years in the wilderness. David knew betrayal, fear, and grief. Job lost almost everything. Daniel had to live far from home.

Peter really messed up. Paul went through terrible suffering. And then there is Jesus.

These were real people who loved God. Loving God didn’t mean nothing bad ever happened to them. They were afraid sometimes. They had questions. They didn’t always get it right. But God kept meeting them. I need to remember that. Maybe you do too.

A Question We Can Ask

When something bad happens, we naturally ask, “Why is this happening?” I’ve asked that question many times.

Sometimes we get an answer. Sometimes we don’t. I’m learning there is another question we can ask even when we don’t understand:

“Father, how do I walk with You through this?”

And sometimes I simply ask Him for a hug.

I know that may sound a little funny, but I mean it. I ask my Father in heaven to remind me that He is close and that He loves me.

That hug can come in all kinds of ways. Sometimes it comes through a friend who calls or shows up at just the right time. Sometimes it’s a verse in the Bible that I’ve read many times, but that day it feels like God put it there just for me.

Sometimes He brings back a memory I needed to remember. Sometimes it’s a kind word, a beautiful sunset, a song, or a quiet moment when I just know I’m not alone.

I’ve learned to pay attention to those little hugs from my Father. They don’t always change what I’m going through, but they remind me that I’m not going through it without Him.

And Then I Look at Jesus

When I don’t know how to walk through something, I look at Jesus and ask, “Jesus, how did You do this?”

How did You keep loving people when they hurt You? How did You trust Your Father when You knew something hard was coming? How did You keep walking with Him when life hurt?

We can learn from Jesus.

And we can do some very simple things today. We can talk with our Father in heaven. We can open our Bibles. We can tell a trusted friend what is going on and ask them to pray with us.

We don’t have to figure out our whole life today. We can pay attention to God and take the next step with Him.

We Won’t Understand Everything

There are things that have happened in my life and to people I love that I still don’t understand. I’ve learned that it’s okay to tell God that.

We can be honest with Him. He already knows what we’re thinking and how we’re feeling. We can trust Him even when we don’t understand what He is doing.

Jesus said:

“My Father is always working, and so am I.”John 5:17, NLT

I love that. Our Father is always working, even when we can’t see it.

What Are We Carrying Today?

Maybe something is hard for you right now. Maybe you’re sad, disappointed, worried, or waiting for something to change. Maybe someone you love is hurting.

We don’t have to pretend everything is okay. We don’t have to have all the answers either.

We can talk with our Father in heaven. We can tell Him what hurts, what we wish were different, and what we need. We can even ask Him for a hug and then pay attention to how He might give us one.

And we can come back to that simple prayer:

“Father, teach us how to live Your way, even here.”

We can also talk to someone who loves Jesus and loves us. We weren’t made to walk through hard things alone.

I don’t know what you are walking through today. But I know what I have experienced.

Our Father is still working.

Even in the hard things.

—Rennie Garda Cadre Disciplemaking Missionary and Friend