How to Trust God When You Are Worried About the Future

This post, How to Trust God When You Are Worried About the Future, was submitted as a guest post and it is filled with lots of revelations that will help you immensely.

Related: Manifesting Faith by Pastor Sam Adeyemi

 

Worry about the future can quietly take over our thoughts

Sometimes nothing is actually wrong today, yet our minds are already preparing for everything that could go wrong tomorrow.

We think about our family, finances, health, relationships, work, and all the things we cannot control.

For Christians, this raises an important question:

How can we trust God when we do not know what the future will bring?

The Bible does not promise that we will know everything that is going to happen. Instead, Scripture repeatedly calls us to trust God with what we cannot see.

 

We Do Not Have to Know Everything About Tomorrow

One of the reasons uncertainty can be so uncomfortable is that we want answers.

We want to know:

• Will everything work out?
• Will my family be okay?
• Will this difficult situation get better?
• What if something unexpected happens?

But faith does not require complete knowledge of the future.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says:

 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Notice that the passage does not tell us to understand everything.

It tells us to trust.

There is a difference.

Sometimes we can have enough information to make a wise decision. Other times, we simply cannot know what comes next.

In those moments, faith means refusing to make our limited understanding the foundation of our security.

 

Jesus Addressed Worry About Tomorrow

Jesus spoke directly about worry in Matthew 6.

He pointed His listeners toward the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, reminding them of God’s care.

Then He said:

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.”

Jesus was not teaching people to ignore responsibility.

He was teaching them not to allow tomorrow to consume today.

There is a practical lesson here.

We can plan without obsessing.

We can prepare without panicking.

We can take responsible action without believing that everything depends entirely on us.

There will always be things outside our control.

 

Fear Can Turn Possibility Into Certainty

One of the most difficult things about worry is that the mind can take a possibility and make it feel certain.

You may think:

• “What if something bad happens?”
• “What if I receive terrible news?”
• “What if I make the wrong decision?”
• “What if everything changes?”

These are possibilities.

But a possibility is not a prediction.

Fear can make an imagined future feel as though it has already happened.

This is why bringing our thoughts back to what is actually true can be so important.

Ask yourself:

What do I know right now?

If there is a problem that requires action, take the appropriate action.

If there is something you can reasonably prepare for, prepare.

But if there is nothing you can do about a hypothetical future, continuing to imagine every possible disaster will not give you control over it.

It will only make the present more difficult.

 

Give Your Worry to God

Philippians 4:6-7 gives Christians a practical response to anxiety:

 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

The passage does not tell us that our concerns are meaningless.

Instead, it tells us what to do with them.

Bring them to God.

That means prayer can become more than a routine at the end of the day.

When a particular concern repeatedly enters your mind, you can deliberately turn that concern into prayer.

Instead of asking only:

“What if this goes wrong?”

you can also ask:

“Lord, what do You want me to do today?”

“Give me wisdom.”

“Help me respond faithfully.”

“Help me trust You with what I cannot control.”

This changes the direction of our attention.

 

Trust Does Not Mean Ignoring Real Problems

Biblical trust should not be confused with pretending that difficulties do not exist.

If you have a financial problem, you may need to create a budget.

If you have a conflict with someone, you may need to have a difficult conversation.

If you have made a mistake, you may need to take responsibility.

If you are facing an important decision, you may need to seek wise counsel.

Faith does not eliminate wisdom.

Faith gives us a different foundation from which to act.

We do what is reasonable and responsible while recognizing that the final outcome is not completely in our hands.

 Job Shows Us What Trust Can Look Like

The book of Job gives us one of the most powerful biblical examples of trusting God during circumstances that cannot be understood.

Job was a faithful man, yet his life changed dramatically and unexpectedly.

What makes the story especially difficult is that Job did not know everything the reader knows.

He did not have the complete explanation for what was happening.

He had to respond to suffering without knowing how the story would end.

That is one reason Job remains so relevant to people who are worried about the future.

Sometimes we also find ourselves in circumstances where we cannot see the complete picture.

We do not know what tomorrow will bring.

We do not know how a difficult season will end.

We do not know why a particular door closed or why a certain situation happened.

But we can still choose faithfulness.

For a deeper look at the first chapter of Job and what it teaches about suffering, faith, and trusting God when circumstances are beyond our control, see

[Job 1: Meaning and Explanation](https://bibleversestopics.com/job-1-meaning-explanation/)

 

Focus on Today’s Faithfulness

One of the simplest ways to deal with fear about the future is to return to what God has placed in front of you today.

You cannot live tomorrow today.

You can only live today.

So ask:

What is the right thing to do today?

Who needs my attention today?

What responsibility should I take care of today?

What can I pray about today?

What Scripture can I meditate on today?

What should I release to God today?

These questions bring our attention away from an imagined future and back to the life God has actually given us today.

 

Trust Is a Daily Decision

Trusting God does not always feel like a dramatic moment of faith.

Sometimes it is a quiet decision repeated throughout the day.

You notice the anxious thought.

You recognize that you cannot control the outcome.

You pray.

You do what you can.

And then you choose not to spend the next hour imagining every possible disaster.

You may have to make that decision again later.

That is okay.

Faith grows through repeated choices to trust God.

The goal is not to become someone who never has a worried thought.

The goal is to learn where to take those thoughts when they come.

 

A Simple Prayer for the Future

Lord, You know everything about tomorrow even when I do not.

When I become afraid of what might happen, help me remember that You are already there.

Give me wisdom to deal with the things that are actually in front of me, courage to do what is right, and faith to release the things I cannot control.

Help me not to allow fear of tomorrow to steal the peace You have given me today.

Teach me to trust You one day at a time.

Amen.

 

Final Thought on How to trust God

We may never reach a point where we know everything that will happen in the future.

But we can know the One who holds the future.

That is where Christian faith becomes practical.

We do not need complete control in order to have peace.

We need to learn to trust God with the things that are beyond our control while faithfully handling the things He has placed in our hands today.

 

About the Author

Weverton F writes about Scripture, Christian faith, biblical encouragement, and practical ways to apply God’s Word to everyday life at Bible Verses & Topics.