Trusting God’s Unseen Growth in Life’s Darkest Seasons

Growing up in suburban Maryland, our family kept a large garden that covered a third of our half-acre backyard. Grape vines lined one fence, strawberries grew along another, rows of vegetables stretched in between, and fruit trees stood sentinel for those who dared enter. Every spring, my parents had my siblings and me plant seeds, burying them in the dark soil—a task that always puzzled me as a young child. Why bury something you want to live? But my mother, an experienced gardener, knew the truth: To give a seed life, you must first bury it. What seems like an ending is actually a beginning.

What I didn’t know then was this: God’s Creative Process™ often begins underground.

If you’re struggling to trust God in dark seasons that feel more like a burial than a planting, take heart. Sometimes, our darkest times aren’t endings but Spirit-led restoration in disguise—divine preparation, not punishment.

God’s Pattern For Growth in Dark Seasons

Hidden beginnings aren’t random—they’re part of God’s plan. Examining Scripture, we see that darkness often precedes breakthrough. In Genesis, when God created life, He said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself” (Genesis 1:11). The first signs of life came from the ground, in the darkness beneath the surface.

I now understand this as part of God’s Creative Process™—a divine pattern of breaking, planting, and growing.

The Hebrew words here are significant. Erets (earth) and totse (bring forth) mean “land” and “sprout” or “grow.” Vegetation started small within the ground and emerged through growth. This shows the importance of trusting God in dark seasons: He develops character, trust, and resilience in hidden places, creating roots to sustain us for what lies ahead.

Even when no one else sees the seed, He remembers where He planted it.

Learning to Trust God in My Own Dark Season

I’ve experienced the challenge of trusting God in dark seasons—after my husband Reggie’s death and while caring for my 97-year-old mother. In both times, my ministry felt stagnant and my purpose unclear. I questioned if I was failing in my calling or if the anointing had left me. The usual signs of “success” were absent, and trusting God felt almost impossible.

But God wasn’t punishing me—He was preparing me for growth I couldn’t imagine. During those quiet months, He developed compassion I didn’t know I needed, deepened my understanding of His faithfulness, and prepared me for a ministry I couldn’t yet see.

In hindsight, I realize I wasn’t failing—I was being reshaped as a spiritual architect of new life.

To the women who feel like you’re failing when life pulls you away from visible achievements: you’re not failing. You’re being planted in fertile soil, where He’s growing the roots you’ll need for the next season of fruitfulness.

Why Trusting God in Dark Seasons Feels so Difficult

If God’s Creative Process™ includes hidden seasons, why do we resist them? Our instant-gratification culture teaches us to expect quick, visible results. We often equate hidden with unproductive and buried with abandoned, making trusting God in dark seasons feel counterintuitive.

However, consider this: Plants grow by absorbing nutrients from the soil, and their health depends on the quality of the soil. Without the right nutrients for its species, a plant cannot survive, but it can thrive in nutrient-rich soil.

Sometimes, the Lord must till the soil of our lives to prepare us for the fruit He’s promised.

A challenging season may have changed your environment, depleting your resources or altering the conditions where you once thrived. This is when trusting God becomes essential—recognizing that He may be changing the soil or seeds to prepare you for future growth.

The Theological Foundation For Trusting God in Dark Seasons

My breakthrough in trusting God during dark seasons came when I reframed my hidden season through a theological lens. Instead of viewing my circumstances as obstacles, I began to see them as part of God’s Creative Process™. This shift completely changed how I trust God in difficult times.

God’s creative framework follows a pattern: edict (what He speaks), execution (how it unfolds), and experience (the result we witness). During dark seasons, we’re often in the execution phase, where God’s word is taking root and growing, even though we can’t yet see the full manifestation.

Trusting God in dark seasons means trusting the execution phase—even when the fruit isn’t visible yet.

Hidden doesn’t mean fruitless—fruit takes time. Growth may be invisible to others, but it is intentional and initiated by God. My season of caring for my mother wasn’t random; it was purposeful preparation for ministry I couldn’t yet imagine.

As I wrote in When Your World Ends, “New life on earth began with the land—when plants sprouted or grew out of the ground. Vegetation started small and emerged. None of it began fully mature; it all went through a process of growth.”

That truth revolutionized how I trust God in dark seasons.

Biblical Examples of Trusting God in Dark Seasons

Scripture offers powerful examples of trusting God in difficult times. Joseph experienced this during his years in prison, when his dreams seemed lost and his purpose unclear (Genesis 37–50). His trust in God through dark seasons prepared him for leadership requiring unshakeable faith. David also learned this while hiding in caves, anointed as king but still fleeing Saul (1 Samuel 16–31). Both discovered that trusting God isn’t about understanding His timing—it’s about trusting His character.

Their underground seasons weren’t punishment but preparation for deeper faith and leadership. The same applies to your life. While others seem to move forward and your circumstances feel overwhelming, trusting God in dark seasons means believing He’s building something in you that can’t be rushed.

Remember: Growth takes time. We must be patient and trust God’s plan while also actively sowing seeds of knowledge, skills, and faith in our hearts to prepare for our purpose.

That’s what it means to live as a spiritual architect—partnering with God to rebuild something sacred out of life’s brokenness.

Call to Reflection

As you close this article, take a moment to pray with me: “God, help me trust what You’re doing in this dark season.”

Then, sit quietly and reflect on these questions:

Where am I struggling with trusting God in dark seasons right now?

What unseen work might God be accomplishing in that very place?

What root system might He be establishing that I cannot yet see?

Friend, whatever season you’re in, remember this truth: You are rooted, you are growing, and you are not buried.

The same God who turns seeds into trees is working in your life through His deliberate creative process.

Trust Him. He has never forgotten a single seed He’s planted. And He hasn’t forgotten you.