Faith in the Unknown: How to Trust God as You Step Into the Next Chapter

They say that the only constant is change, and I know that has been true in my life. A move to a new town a couple of years ago came with a new church. Now, my husband has had a major career change. Life can surely keep us on our toes. With all the unknowns that new phases of life incur, how can we keep our trust in God? How can our faith help us to navigate the unknown? What does it mean to follow the guidance of the Lord in a world that is filled with uncertainty?

Elisabeth Elliot used to say something akin to, “I don’t know, but I know the one who knows.”

There will also be aspects of our future that can not be known. However, these can be less scary when we know the one directing our future well. Therefore, the first step in trusting God with all that lies ahead of us is to know Him and His character well. This will not only give us a greater trust in our master but a better understanding of what might be coming down the road for us,

Get to Know Your Leader

You wouldn’t follow just anyone into the wilderness. You would want a guide who had broken themself. You would look up reviews and testimonies. You would ask for credentials and maybe even want to know a bit about their personality. The same is true of the God who leads us along the path of life. We need to read the stories of His past leading. Reading Old Testament stories of how God guided the Israelites, Jacob, Isaiah, Adam and Eve, Joseph, and Ruth can serve to amplify your trust in God. These stories reveal his faithfulness. When we read these stories, we obtain a unique perspective by observing the beginning, the middle, and the outcome of each situation. The evidence all points to a trustworthy guide.

Reading scripture about God’s role as planner and creator of the world can teach us the importance of understanding sovereignty. The world may be uncertain, but God is not. He has always had a plan, and He executes it with intentionality. His credentials are evident in the scripture. He created the world, He created man, He created a plan for redemption, He created Eternity. Nothing was left to chance. He can rule your life, as evidenced by His organized, purposeful, and careful planning of the universe.

Finally, getting to know God can bring your heart to trust in His plan. Talking to Him in prayer or communicating with Him by reading His word will reveal His character. Explain your fears to Him and hear what He has to say about them. Understanding the heart behind the planner can help you trust Him in the future, even when He doesn’t reveal the details to you. Understanding that God is just and loving can prevent fear from creeping in. Knowing that He is unchangeable and all-powerful can give you confidence in your future.

Don’t Rely on Sight

Faith is inherently a sightless endeavor. We need to remember that one major aspect of our walk with God is to trust Him without seeing everything clearly. Have you ever had someone plan something for you? An event, an appointment, a date, a party? Letting go of the details and getting to enjoy the results can be a restful process if you trust the planner. Having faith in God is similar; He is the most trustworthy planner, and therefore, we can have faith in His ability, which means that we can rest as we wait for the outcome of changes in our lives.

Faith actually means that we don’t have to have all of the answers. We don’t have to figure it all out. We don’t have to strive. Like the army of the Old Testament, we only have to be still (Exodus 14:14).

Faith also means not only believing what our eyes can see. Our stories are unfinished, and we only see bits and pieces of a better plan. Faith understands this. Faith knows that what we can tangibly understand now is not the same as what lies ahead. We trust that God is always working, whether there is good or bad because . . . “He works all things together . . .” (Romans 8:28 NIV).

While the world is uncertain, we can be certain that God is in control. While our futures are uncertain, we can be certain that God has a plan. While the outcomes are uncertain, we can be certain that it is for good. Change may be the only constant in the world, but we have a constant God who does not change and whose plan for the world and us is intricately woven together.

The poem, The Weaver, by Corrie Ten Boom poignantly reminds us that as we look at the circumstances of our lives while the babies are born and the kids graduate, the job ends and the house sells, the friends move away, and our parents age, He is creating a beautiful tapestry. He knows the final image, and He is working on each stitch with intentionality. Our human minds can only see the tangled mess of colors at the backside of this masterpiece, but thankfully, we know the master.