How do you not lose your faith in God and know that he has a plan for you?

Question

I have been through a lot in the past couple of years, from 4 surgeries, two emergency hospitalizations, a major broken heart, the death of an old friend and unemployment. I try to keep my faith and accept that God knows where he's taking me, But how do I believe this when I feel like he's forgotten me?

Yes, I'm Christian.

Answer 1

You tell him just what you said here. Ask for respite. He tests us for a while and then offers a time of refreshing. Many people have similar stories. I have had a bad DECADE. Like Job, resolve, "Thou he slay me, yet will I trust him." Remember he provides you with EVERYTHING you have including your next breath and heartbeat! He does have a plan and his mercies endure FOREVER. They are fresh every morning!
Who bought you through the surgeries? Guided the hands of the surgeons? Is mending your broken heart as we speak? Unemployed, but provided for enough to afford electricity to run your computer and so no doubt a roof over your head and food and clothing!
Don't let the enemy fool you. ALL things work together for the Good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. Our thoughts are not like his thoughts and our ways are not like his ways. He is full of mercy and compassion.
Cast your cares on him because he cares for you. Pray for a positive mindset in your adversity. Tests you don't pass you'll take AGAIN! God loves you, be encouraged. Your respite is on the way. However, remember we are on a battlefield. Heaven is yet to come! Here we must work to glorify God. Seems your adversity is affording you many opportunities to testify about his goodness and how he has kept you!
To close, remember what the apostle Paul said, "I reckon the suffering of this present time cannot be compared to the glory that someday will be revealed in us!" and "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the hearts of men what God hath prepared for his saints."
HANG ON!
God is already blessing you.

Answer 2

Hi, I can relate to the long suffering you are going through. Let me just say this: Why not look at the positive side to things, this had kept me going for the last 4 years myself. For one thing, through all your surgeries, God has kept you, you are still here. As far as the broken heart, how do we not know that what has happened now, is maybe better than what would have happened later on, had God not intervened. Death is a truly tough subject, however, death is not a permanent thing, Your Old Friend may have given his heart to Jesus at one time in his life, and now that he is in heaven, this becomes a good thing. Unemployment may be Gods way of telling you that he has something much better for you. I will tell you one thing that I have noticed these last four years. God has a plan, and when I submit to His plan, good things start to happen eventually. I will be the first to admit that I am stubborn, and I probably cause God much anguish. However I do believe that we live in a physical world as well as a spiritual world and when satan knows that God has something wonderful in store for us, he does his best to keep us down and out so that we will be too focused on our sorrows and grief and miss out on Gods blessings for us. If you ever want a christian friend to talk to, feel free to e-mail me, PM me or whatever. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, we are one body and we are to uplift eachother as Christ uplifts His church.
[e-mail] God Bless You.

Answer 3

God never forgets about us. God gives us trials and hardships for a reason, well actually many reasons. I know you've been through a lot this past year but consider the distant past; did you learn any thing from those experiences? I know I have and I bet if you try you will find that you learned some very important lessons from past hardships. Everything happens for a reason and even though we may not know right now why things like that happen, sometime, in the future you will look back and realize that what you went through either made you stronger or taught you something. Take for instance one of my past experiences: When I was 12 my dad commited suicide. He was very much on drugs and so was my mom(it was really bad!). My mom found him when he did this so you can imagine just how bad this really was. After this happened (aproximitly 8 or 9 months) my mom started dateing a man who was very nice and most importantly did not use drugs. Well eventualy they got married and since then she has been drug free. They have been married for 15 years now and still my mom is drug free. Do you get my point? If my dad never would have died then my mom could be very messed up right now or very likely dead. You see Even though things seem very, very bad right now there is a light at the end of the tunnel. God has a plan for your life just as he had a plan for my moms life. Please don't ever give up on him. Trust him always for he loves you very, very much. One last note remember this verse for it can help you through any thing: "I can do all things in Jesus Christ who strenghtens me."Phil 4:13

Answer 4

Simple answer is: you're still here. That's reason enough to know that He has plans for you.

He brought you through the surgeries, blessed you with knowledgable doctors in the emergencies. Your heart will heal, and if your friend was a Christian, you already know they're safe in His arms. Unemployment isn't the end of the world either. You've obviously got a roof over your head & lights in the windows. I'd assume you've got food on the table & shoes on your feet too.

Follow His leading - He'll put you where He wants you, when He wants you there.

Answer 5

Being a Christian isn't an easy thing (I'm assuming you're Christian here but not sure if you are or what). There are many challenges that we're suppose to endure in order for us to be stronger. My boyfriend's mother has gone through soooo much in her life (really bad childhood, abuse of every kind) and this past year has been a ton of obstacles for her: almost losing a son, another son throwing up blood, her health failed completely (knee surgery...stomach lining rupturing, high blood pressure, etc.), husband yelled out he was gonna commit suicide, family friend in the hospital on christmas eve and they don't know what's wrong.. and that's just SOME of the crap that's happened in 2006. She still has retained her faith and still speaks of God highly. I know it is difficult right now but it is through these trials that we become stronger and learn to appreciate life more.

Answer 6

Faith is believing when you cannot see the results. You must continue with your belief and know that God will not leave you or forsake you and he really does know all things before we do and has the plan in motion. Be patient and the plan will become a reality. Our faith is tested with the hardships of life; however those things do not determine how you feel about God nor how much he loves you. Look for God's love in the small things. Talk to him.

Answer 7

I nearly died when I was four from a ruptured appendix.

My parent's divorced a few years later and I went with my mom, my brother stayed with my dad.

I was tied up and beaten by my mom's boyfriend after watching him abuse her for years.

I have lived a life of failure and success, living as best I can, under the grace of God and the forgiveness of Jesus.

When I was in high school, God told me that I was called to be a pastors wife.

I'm turning 27 and I am still single with no prospects in my life.

Yet...I am still alive.

If you are still alive, God has a purpose and will, a plan for your life. If you are still breathing, He is not finished with you yet. If He were finished with you, He would take you home to be with Him.

There are things that we go through because we have to. It took me years and years to come to terms with the abuse I suffered and the fear it caused. God has taken me a long way since then. He has shown me a lot.

Someone somewhere needs you. That is why you have gone through what you've gone through. The world is cursed by sin. There will come a time when you will lead someone through the valley with your faith in God and the wisdom He grants you.

The important thing is to never let go of Him. He loves you, more than words could ever say. The Bible says that "The King is wild about you" and it's100% true.

He holds you in His hand and He watches over you and He does have a plan for you. It isn't over. Take faith in His love for you, take faith in the fact that He has the whole world in His hand, that nothing ever takes Him by surprise, that He knew you before you were formed in your mothers womb and that He knows the number of hairs on your head.

Be strong and trust Him.

If you want to talk, click on my photo and email me. I will do the best that I can to encourage and strengthen you. That's what family in Christ are meant to do. God Bless.

Answer 8

He hasn't forgotten you! He will carry you if you put yourself in his arms daily. Here is a cool story:
> Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
> As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
>The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says:
"He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in
front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Answer 9

A sparrow does not fall that God does not see. He knows of your troubles and Loves you. You must keep the Faith. I will keep you in my prayers, and I know you believe in the power of prayer. Do you know the story of Footprints in the Sand, where is says "when you saw only one set of footprints, that is when I carried you." If not please find it on the net, it has been a great help to me. Get with others in the faith, find a priest or pastor to speak to, find Christian web sights, if you are a Christian, I suppose I shouldn't assume! Do not let the Devil get into your head and mess up your head and faith, for He is the Father of all Lies. May God Bless you and yours and keep you safe. Yours In Christ, Kathleen

Answer 10

He wasn't there in the first place. As bad as you have it, there are people a lot worse off than you, so don't complain. Did you know that the average child in Africa has a 50% chance of dying before their tenth birthday, and thats if they get past starvation, they have absolutely no jobs to be unemployed from, they don't even have hospitals to have surgery or emergency care, a majority of the women have aids because they can't afford to have a loving relationship in the first place, and most would ask where this God man lives so they can get water from him or a loaf of bread. If they can get through life without God, you can.