Trusting God When His Plan Makes No Sense
Real Struggles With Real Solutions • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 6 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
This season reminds Christians of the most confusing days the disciples ever lived through.
They had left everything to follow Jesus.
They believed He was the Messiah.
They expected a kingdom.
But instead, they saw Him arrested, beaten, and crucified.
Nothing made sense.
Their expectations collided with God’s plan, and they struggled to trust Him.
Christians today face similar moments — times when life takes unexpected turns, when prayers seem unanswered, and when God’s timing feels slow.
Today we will look at what the Bible says about this struggle, the biblical answer, how to apply it, and how Christians can help one another trust God when His plan makes no human sense.
Body:
Examples of the Struggle of Doubt.
Christians are not the first to wrestle with doubt when God’s plan seems confusing. Scripture give multiple examples of faithful people who struggled to trust God when circumstances contradicted what they expected.
Old Testament examples.
Abraham — Doubt Caused by Delayed promises
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
How Abraham struggled:
God promised him a son, but decades passed with no fulfilment.
When God reaffirmed the promise, Abraham laughed — not out of joy, but disbelief.
His doubt came from the delay and the impossibility of the situation.
Why this matters:
Christians often doubt when God’s timing seems slow or when His promises appear impossible.
Sarah — Doubt Caused by Human Limitations
12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
How Sarah struggled:
She doubted because she evaluated God’s promise through the lens of her own physical limitations.
She thought, “This cannot happen — not at my age.”
Why this matters:
Christians often doubt when they focus on their own limitations instead of God’s power.
Moses — Doubt Caused by Feelings of Inadequacy
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
How Moses struggled:
He doubted God’s plan because he doubted himself.
He believed his weakness were greater that God’s calling.
He questioned God’s choice and timing.
Why this matters:
Christians often doubt when they feel unqualified or overwhelmed by what God asks of them.
Gideon — Doubt Caused by Circumstances and Fear
13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
How Gideon struggled:
He doubted because his circumstances contradicted God’s promises.
He questioned God’s presence, God’s goodness, and God’s plan.
He repeatedly asked for signs because fear clouded his trust.
Why this matters:
Christians often doubt when life’s hardships seem inconsistent with God’s promises.
Elijah — Doubt Caused by Exhaustion and Discouragement
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”
How Elijah struggled:
After a great victory on Mount Carmel, he fled in fear from Jezebel.
Exhaustion and discouragement led him to doubt God’s protection and plan.
He felt alone, overwhelmed, and ready to give up.
Why this matters:
Christians often doubt when they are emotionally drained or spiritually exhausted.
The Israelites in the Wilderness —Doubt Caused by Hardship
11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”
How they struggled:
They doubted God’s deliverance immediately after witnessing miracles.
Hardship made them question God’s motives and leadership.
They preferred slavery over uncertainty.
Why this matters:
Christians often doubt when hardship makes the past look safer than trusting God for the future.
New Testament Examples:
The Disciples on the Road to Emmaus — Doubt Caused by Disappointment
21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.
How they struggled:
They expected Jesus to redeem Israel through a physical kingdom.
They believed victory was near and their future was secure.
The crucifixion shattered every expectation they carried.
Their statement “We were hoping...” reveals deep emotional collapse and confusion.
Why this Matters:
Disappointment is often the doorway through which doubt enters.
When God does not meet expectation, disciples can feel misled or abandoned.
Even sincere followers can misunderstand God’s plan and feel crushed when reality contradicts their hopes.
Application:
Disciples must allow God to reshape their expectations instead of letting disappointment reshape their faith.
The Disciples Behind Locked Doors — Doubt Fueled by Fear
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
How they struggled:
They feared the Jewish leaders who had killed Jesus.
They feared for their own safety and future.
Their fear caused them to isolate and hide rather than trust and move forward.
Fear replaced confidence and paralyzed their faith.
Why this matters:
Fear is one of the strongest competitors to trust.
When fear dominates, disciples often retreat, isolate, or make decisions based on anxiety.
The disciples’ fear shows that even those closest to Jesus can feel overwhelmed when God’s plan seems unclear.
Application:
Jesus met the disciples in their fear — and He meets Christians in theirs, calling them back to trust.
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
The Disciples Rejecting the Resurrection Report — Doubt Born form Confusion
10 She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. 11 And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
How they struggled:
Even after hearing eyewitness reports of the resurrection, they refused to believe.
Confusion clouded their spiritual vision.
They assumed the story was over and that God had stopped working.
Their doubt came from interpreting circumstances instead of trusting God’s promises.
Why this matters:
Unbelief often grows in seasons of confusion.
When circumstances contradict expectations, disciples may assume God is absent or inactive.
The disciples’ disbelief shows how easily confusion can distort faith.
Application:
Disciples must remember that God is often working in ways they cannot yet see.
The resurrection was already accomplished before the disciples believed it — and God may already be working in ways Christians have not yet recognized.
How Do We Trust God When His Plan Makes No Human Sense — The Biblical Answer.
God reminds Christians that He sees what we cannot.
God is all knowing.
5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.
He is all powerful.
17 ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.
God is everywhere and see all things.
23 “Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord, “And not a God afar off? 24 Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.
Because, He know all, has all power and sees all His ways are higher than I can even imagine.
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
God works even when His plan is hidden.
Romans 8:26-28 teaches that God works all things for good — even when we do not understand.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
God’s timing is always perfect.
Galatians 4:4 shows that God acts at the exact right moment.
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
We can trust His timing will always be perfect.
31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
How to Implement the Trust in God.
Study to Get to know God and build faith.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
Practice surrendering to Him by remembering The Fathers will is what matters.
Jesus said...
30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
We must choose trust instead of doubt.
3 Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. 4 In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?
How Christians Can Help One Another Trust God.
Encourage one another with God’s promises.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Remind each other every chance we get that God is faithful.
Share with each other how God has been faithful and worked in our lives.
I want to remind you that God still works in our lives.
17 ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.’
Conclusion:
The disciples’ confusion did not stop God’s plan.
Their fear did not hinder His purpose.
Their disappointment did not cancel His promises.
God was working even when they could not see it.
And He is working in your life the same way.
When Christians trust God’s wisdom, rely on His timing, and support one another, they can walk through confusing seasons with confidence that God is in control — even when His plan makes no sense.
I want to end with this verse. Trust God and...
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
When we trust Him we can through His strength live the way He desires and we can do all the things that He says we can.
