top of page

Trusting God in Difficult Times

Writer's picture: Cathy WilliamsCathy Williams

Updated: May 1, 2024

Learn how to repair your soul for trusting God in difficult times.


Sad woman with tissue in hand looking out window


All of us experience difficult times—heartbreak and betrayal, loss of a loved one, abuse, financial insecurity, wayward children or family members, and/or job-related pressures, the list goes on.


Our souls sustain blows from these hardships, and it is so comforting to have family, friends, church family, or counselors come to our sides to show support and offer assistance through these very challenging times.


Sadly, not all of us have that much-needed support, and we suffer alone. Still, others of us suffer in silence due to guilt or shame associated with the difficulty.


In this fallen world, all of us will, in some way, find ourselves caught in the bramble bushes of life's disappointments, the thorns of which tear the flesh of our souls leaving us hurt, wounded, and all too often confused.


Some of our wounds are gaping. We know they are there and so does everyone else. Other breaks are not so apparent, even to us. But when our lives fall apart, we can't explain why until unhealed bruises and breaks—some of which occur in our childhood—are somehow discovered.


I've learned that no matter the support, or lack thereof, we all need healing. From gaping wounds to hidden cuts, bruises, and everything in between, our souls must be restored if we are to live our best lives.


God is always speaking. The Holy Spirit is always pointing the way, through an encouraging word from a friend, a message we hear in church or online, or a passage we read in our Bibles.


The Holy Spirit's attempts to guide us may even come through the words of a child or a billboard we see on the side of the road.


But it's difficult to hear the comfort God sends when the pain is so loud.


It's hard to hear and see what the Holy Spirit is doing for us when the problem seems to speak and demonstrate itself more loudly.


And because of the breaks and cuts and bruises our souls have sustained during difficult times, any good Word from the Lord or any encouragement just "leaks" through the cracks, and we cannot hold on to the life it gives.


As a result, our faith is weakened. This doesn't make you or me a bad person. We're not on our way to hell. God is not mad at us. We are not failures.


We only need to understand what is actually happening, which would be the fulfillment of John 8:32.



Girl jumping for joy at oceanfront

John 8:32

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.




















When we hear God's truth, it brings freedom. So how do we prevent this truth that the Holy Spirit is trying to get to us from leaking out?


We must allow the Holy Spirit to repair our souls so we can hold on to our faith in difficult times.



How to Hold On to Faith in Difficult Times


All of our difficulties are the direct result of Adam's fall in the Garden. BUT, God loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to rescue us from a fallen world. Very simply, He sent Jesus to fix it!


Through Christ, God reconciled us back to Himself and set us free! Following are just three of the many Bible verses that the Holy Spirit left on record for us that demonstrate what God's love for us accomplished through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!



Beautiful sunrise

Colossians 1:13

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.
















Wooden cross with beams of light against blue sky

Romans 8:2

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

















And He gave us EVERYTHING we need to live victorious lives.



Bright light shining through a golden arch in the heavenly skies

Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.













Our understanding of and confidence in these Bible verses are a definite key to being able to trust God in difficult times.


In my walk with God, and I'm sure in yours, as well, disappointments have sometimes been overwhelming. Whether we deal with a single incident or a combination of multiple occurrences, the enemy tries to take advantage of us in the pain.


The devil sees disappointment—disillusionment, letdown, sustained frustration, regret—as his opportunity to prey upon us and steal our faith.


Pain associated with life's difficulties has a way of making us reassess our positions of faith.


I recall after persisting disappointment, I thought, "Ok, this is not looking right. This is not feeling right. This is not going right. What in the world is happening here?"


Through disappointment, the enemy will even try to challenge our core beliefs.


I remember one "leaky" day stopping to reevaluate my faith. I thought, "Ok,...


  1. I know God is real.

  2. I know that I am saved.

  3. I know that since God is real, then His Word has to be true. And if God cannot lie, then EVERY Word has to be true (Titus 1:2)."

Even though I was leaking, I had to establish those three things in my soul: God is real, I am saved, and God's Word is true.


With this as my immutable base, I could only conclude that the problem, then, couldn't be with God. The problem had to lie with me and my understanding of God.


I sought the Lord for answers and it is still absolutely amazing how the Lord began to reveal truth. He began to show me how the enemy works against us.


The first thing the Lord made clear to me through His Word is that HE LOVES ME! Me. With all of my mistakes, all of my willful mess-ups, and my whole unworthy self, God loves me.


That took some doing, but when I cried out to Him in my difficult times, the Lord showed me through His Word that He loves me dearly.


AND GOD LOVES YOU, TOO, JUST LIKE HE LOVES ME!


That knowledge was the beginning of the healing of my soul.


And the Lord gave me this verse too!



Beautifully wrapped gifts surrounding Matthew 7:11 scripture

Matthew 7:11

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?











I sought answers, and God came through! God's got an abundance of good things for us!


God opened my eyes to some very basic truths that transformed my thinking and worked, ultimately, to transform my life. This is what He shared.


Help to Trust God in Difficult Times


This revelation was another key to my deliverance.


The Lord showed me that just as we can sense and feel His presence, we can also sense and feel the presence of the enemy.



radiator emitting heat waves

I can best describe it using a radiator scenario.


Radiators emit heat as reflected. Once the radiator is engaged, the atmosphere in the room will change.


If it's cold, the room will get warm. If it's warm, the room will get even warmer. If it's hot, the room will get hotter still.


The active presence of the radiator does what it does—it emits heat. We feel it.





radiator emitting heat waves labeled fear

Similarly, the enemy works the same way. Take fear, for example. When the spirit of fear enters, it changes the atmosphere. We can sense and feel its presence. When it is active, fear does what it does—it emits fear.


Fear of rejection, fear of the unknown, fear of failure, and a long list of other worries emit from the spirit of fear.


When fear is working, our souls can sense its attributes to varying degrees: anxiety, accelerated heart rate, shortness of breath, tightening in the chest, nausea, nervousness, and so many other related feelings.


The strength of fear unchecked can lead to depression and a number of physical illnesses.


Though the feelings are very real, we must understand that these feelings of fear are NOT from God.


God knew that we would deal with the spirit of fear and throughout scripture in both the Old and New Testaments, He assures His children that we do not have to fear. One of my favorites is Isaiah 41:10.



Large hand reaching down to smaller hand

Isaiah 41:10 - Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.











Here, God lets us know that He's got us. We do not have to fear. Yet so many of us still seem to have no defense against this often debilitating spirit.


God further encourages us through His Word in 2 Timothy 1:7.



Woman with arms stretched upward against blue sky

2 Timothy 1:7 - For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.


















Among the many gifts God has given us are power, love, and a sound mind. The Greek word translated sound mind means a self-disciplined mind. This means we can discipline our minds through the power and love God has gifted us.


So, since we know through the Word, that fear is NOT from God, we can conclude that it is an enemy force. But look at Colossians 2:15!



A cross against a sunlit sky

Colossians 2:15 - And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.



Jesus DEFEATED the enemy and all of his cohorts for us! So when fear enters the room we only need to understand its source and apply Luke 10:19.




Luke 10:19 - Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.



In this Bible verse, the first word translated as “power” is exousia, the Greek word meaning authority.


The second word translated as “power” in this verse is the Greek word dunamis, which means ability, abundance, and strength. 

This scripture verse tells us that through Jesus Christ, God has given us AUTHORITY over ALL the devil’s ability, abundance, and strength.  That means that we have authority over the spirit of fear, and God gives us the strategy we need to defeat it!



Sunrays shining through a tree

1 Peter 5:8-9 -

[8] Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

[9] Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.




Radiator emitting heat waves of fear covered with label titled Defeated

What does it mean to resist the devil?


It means to stand against him and his efforts to defeat us, to oppose him, to withstand him.


Through the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we can do just that!


With this knowledge and weaponry, and the God of the universe backing it all up within us, we can know beyond a shadow of any doubt that fear is defeated!


We are not subject to fear, but through the power of the Holy Spirit in us, fear is subject to us!


And the same holds true for any spirit of the enemy. Let's take loneliness, for example. I learned early in my Christian walk that loneliness is indeed a spirit.


Loneliness, left unchecked, will cause us to make unhealthy decisions based on the feeling it emits.


radiator emitting heat waves labeled loneliness

Prior to hearing this teaching, I thought loneliness was simply a state of being. Not long after hearing it, the spirit of loneliness entered my room.


It was early in my marriage before my children were born. Both my husband and I were working—I worked the day shift, and my husband, Eddie, worked the afternoon shift.


Eddie would be asleep when I left for work in the morning, and I'd be asleep when he came home from work in the middle of the night.


One evening, after I again returned home to an empty house, while lying across the bed, loneliness swept over me. I felt it when it entered the room.


I did not like what I felt. It made being alone so much worse.


Because I'd been taught that loneliness is a spirit, I immediately fought it. I was not a great prayer warrior. I'd just learned a truth and embraced it.


I spoke directly to the spirit of loneliness and said, "No! I will not be bothered with a spirit of loneliness. Get out now in Jesus' name!"


Radiator emitting heat waves of loneliness covered with label titled Defeated

And immediately, just as it entered the room, it left. This is how it happened:


  1. I felt the presence of the spirit.

  2. I recognized it as a spirit.

  3. I quickly decided that I would not embrace or tolerate its efforts against me.

  4. I rebuked it in the name of Jesus!


And that was the end of it!


Loneliness was defeated!


I WISH I could say that every time I faced a spirit of the enemy I enjoyed immediate victory as I did here. I cannot.


It literally took me years to overcome the spirit of discouragement. But here's why.


Discouragement entered the room just as loneliness had.


Radiator emitting heat waves labeled discouragement
  1. I felt the presence of the spirit.

  2. I did NOT recognize it as a spirit. I thought it was a state of being.

  3. I did not know the truth about the spirit.

  4. I did not rebuke it in the name of Jesus.


As a result of my lack of knowledge about this spirit, I had no defense. The enemy could take advantage of me and hold me in bondage.


It wasn't until I actively began to pursue God that a change took place in my leaky soul. (Click Blog Post below—25 Scriptures for Victory—for my testimony of victory over discouragement.)


Radiator emitting heat waves of discouragement covered with label titled Defeated

The Lord showed me truth that made me free!


Thank God discouragement was defeated in my life!
















We all experience difficult times, and the enemy works tirelessly against us to make us feel that these negative feelings are a part of who we are or what we have become.


That thinking prevents the healing of our souls and we continue to leak from the wounds we sustain.


God is always trying to get truth to us, but it’s difficult to go the distance when our souls are incapable of holding on to the truth we receive. But when our souls are repaired, we can walk in sustained victory.


We are fortified with faith to believe through the power of the Holy Spirit, Who guides us into all truth (John 16:13).


We are fortified with faith to believe!


I have learned that no matter what comes our way, . . .



Radiator emitting heat waves labeled Best Shot
Radiator emitting heat waves of Best Shot with label titled Defeated


. . . EVEN THE DEVIL'S BEST SHOT AGAINST US IS DEFEATED!



Keys to Remember When Trusting God in Difficult Times


Difficult times will come, but when we attire ourselves with the armor of God described in Ephesians 6:10-18, we are equipped for the battle.


Remember that God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). When we praise Him, think about Him, meditate on His promises, and speak of His goodness, His presence shows up!


Remember, also, that the devil, who so desperately wants to be the god of our lives, will inhabit the conversations and thoughts that promote his actions. When we think about his lies, turn his threats over and over in our minds, and speak of any of the negatives he presents, he'll show up.


The devil will show up with fear, anxiety, loneliness, discouragement, lust, stress, and all the rest.


But knowledge of who we are in Christ and Who God is in us wins our victory in every area EVERY TIME!


Finally . . .


Man entering into large Bible with flashlight

2 Timothy 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.



Build your faith through the Word of God and you will trust Him wholly in difficult times!


God will heal every wound and make you whole in Him!


 

Find a treasure trove of biblical wisdom with God’s Medicine Scriptures—a beautifully designed gold tin of need-specific Bible verses that offer guidance, comfort, and strength for any situation you might face.


 

 


 

Blog Post Author, Cathy Williams





6 Comments


soupermomof4
Apr 05, 2024

This is excellent!!! I loved the radiator analogy. I also enjoyed the points regarding loneliness; recognizing it as a spirit, and praying it away, and conversely not recognizing discouragement as a spirit, but mis-identifying it as a state of being. That's good stuff!!! The supporting scriptures are awesome. Definitely "God's medicine."💜

Like
Cathy Williams
Cathy Williams
Apr 06, 2024
Replying to

I'm so glad you were blessed by the article! Your comments certainly blessed me! The Word of God is so powerful! Yes, it's definitely God's Medicine!

Like

Guest
Apr 04, 2024

What a wonderful timely word for me today!🙌🏻 Thank you Cathy for sharing your love and wisdom❤️~Donna

Like
Cathy Williams
Cathy Williams
Apr 06, 2024
Replying to

Thanks for stopping by to read the article! And thanks for your kind words! God is Awesome!

Like

Guest
Apr 04, 2024

I’m uplifted. This is an awesome blog. I’m do encouraged. Thank you Sis. Cathy.

Like
Cathy Williams
Cathy Williams
Apr 06, 2024
Replying to

I'm so glad you were encouraged! God is so good to us!

Like
bottom of page