By: Steve Wilmot
Edgerton, Ohio
It happened years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I sat across the table from a young man. He’d gone through some tough stuff the previous 12 months.
A major health issue with frightening possibilities several years in the future. A setback in his career hopes that made it look unlikely he’d ever get his dream job.
He slid into a deep depression. One of those lingering depressions where you know what you should do to feel better, but you’re too down in the dumps to work up the energy to do it. So you don’t, and your emotional state spirals even further south.
The depression spilled over onto his family. His kids irritated him, so he kept his distance. Arguments with his wife made them consider divorce.
His depression also caused him to lose faith in the God he thought cared about him and could heal him and put him back on track to his dream career. He felt alone. Abandoned. Left to fight these battles by himself.
I assured him God loves him, and his disappointments are part of God’s wonderful plan for him. “It doesn’t look like it right now,” I said, “but it is. Trust God in these days of darkness and doubt. He cares for you very much.”
His body language strongly revealed he didn’t believe me. He couldn’t trust God anymore, even if he wanted to. In his mind, God had pulled the rug out from under him too many times to ever trust him again.
Do you know anyone like my friend? Someone who has given up on God because he believes God gave up on him? Doesn’t care anymore? Is not trustworthy? Maybe a close friend or a family member. Might even be you.
If we were to sit across a table from each other, I’d ask a few questions Jesus asked his disciples. Important questions to ask yourself in times of doubt and despair.
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26-27).
Seriously now, does God care more about birds than he cares for you? Does he pay more attention to their needs than to yours? Here is Jesus’ next question.
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?” (Matt. 7:9-10).
As a father, you want to give your children what they ask for. You may not be able to all the time, but you want to. It’s the heart of a dad.
Jesus follows up with another question: “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (v. 11).
Well? Do you really believe you’re a better father to your kids than God is to his? To you? May I suggest your “proof” that God doesn’t care and isn’t dependable is rooted entirely in emotion, not fact. Feelings are not a reliable meter of what is true.
That’s why it’s important to slow down and think through Jesus’ four questions. They will help you regain perspective. You’ll remember all the times you went through tough stuff only to discover after you got through it God knew what he was doing all the time, and the result was worth it. Something so valuable, you’d go through the suffering again to gain it.
Grasp these truths with both hands even in your pain, confusion and doubt…God cares about you. God loves you. God is kind and generous toward you. God is always working for your best. God is way better than you ever thought he was.
God can be trusted even in the pitch-black night of pain and doubt because he is utterly and completely and eternally faithful to do what he has said.
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.
