How to Trust God When Life Feels Out of Control

Why We Struggle to Trust God When Life Feels Out of Control

Ok Jesus, here we go… hold me.

These are the thoughts and prayers of so many women around us, and around the world, daily. Maybe even your prayer this morning, after receiving news you weren’t expecting. Or maybe after facing something you’ve been avoiding. You knew you’d be confronted with the reality that this isn’t something you can fix with your own wisdom. You can’t fix it with your own hands, your own finances, or even your own skill.

It’s in these moments we meet that dreaded feeling: I really don’t know how I’m going to do this. I don’t know how I’m going to make it.

If you’re anything like me, those are the feelings I avoid, press down, or replace with action. What can I do right now to make this better. I search for conversations to have. Actions to finish. Work to do. And honestly, when there isn’t anything left to do, I do something that can consume even more energy.

I sit and think. I dwell on the things I can’t achieve. I ponder the reality of what I can’t control. I try to pull solutions out of thin air. I act as if somehow sheer effort can save me. Because I believe we have that within us. I believe we can do hard things.

But that isn’t always how it goes, is it?

When It Feels Like Life Is Slipping Through Your Fingers

I remember feeling like my future was slipping through my fingers.

I had dreams. Goals. Desires rumbling inside me. Ideas that felt so far out of reach. I used to sit with my journal at the top of Rocky Butte, coffee in hand, and write. Journaling brought me peace. It was where my soul quieted down. It was where I found Jesus in the pages.

I would pour out everything bursting inside me. Over time, I got caught in the chaos of life. I faced the reality that what we sow, we eventually reap. It was a season of consequences. Thoughtless friendships. Seeking love in the wrong places. Seeking comfort in relationships that were never meant to hold what only God can. I didn’t even fully understand at the time how much I was reaching for comfort.

But eventually, life catches up. Friends move on. They start families. Careers. I was never one to compare. But, I remember being knee deep in bankruptcy. I was navigating health diagnoses that I told no one about. I wrestled with addiction and stared at a mountain of How am I ever going to overcome this?

I felt like my life was slipping.

And I didn’t even know where to start. Sometimes pain isolates you. You feel alone. Like no one can understand. Like everyone else is carrying their own battles, and yours is too heavy to name.

But Then I Remembered the Word

And I leaned into the Word that has truly lit my path, opened doors, and led me straight.

What God taught me wasn’t instant. It was slow. Like a vine growing quietly underground. Like seeds doing sacred work beneath the soil long before anything breaks through the surface.

Have you ever started seeds for a garden? The care is slow. Precise. Hidden. And just when you’re tired of seeing nothing sprout, something is happening in secret that you can’t yet see. That is what God taught me in those seasons.

Growth is often hidden before it is visible.

Trust is often formed before it is felt.

It is slow, steady surrender. A daily clinging. Not just once a week. Not just in our designated Jesus time But an unshakable hunger to stay connected to Him daily. To acknowledge Him in decisions. In conversations. Before decisions. To talk to Him like He really is your closest friend. To tell Him the desires and dreams no one else sees. Because He does.

And His promise is stronger than what you fear. He is the Vine.

Proverbs 3:5–6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart  
and lean not on your own understanding;  
in all your ways submit to Him,  
and He will make your paths straight.

Ask Yourself

Where am I leaning on my own understanding right now?

What would it look like to surrender this area to God?

These are the very places you turn over to Him. Speak it. Release it. Declare His favor and grace over it. And then trust. Don’t force what God hasn’t opened. Don’t strive to fix what He is asking you to surrender. Wait for peace. Wait for wisdom. Wait for His strategy.

Whether it’s debt. A health diagnosis. A child not walking with the Lord. A broken marriage. Grief. Distress. Whatever it is, stop trying to carry what was never yours to carry alone. Acknowledge Him. Invite Him into the conversation. And then ask:

Lord, what steps do I take? What strategy do You have for me here?

This is where faith steps in. And we only need a little. Mustard seed little.

Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace  
those whose minds are steadfast,  
because they trust in You.

Ask yourself:

What steals my peace most often?
What helps return my mind to God when I spiral?

And in those moments, remember:
Pray honestly. Surrender what you can’t fix. Stay faithful in the next small step.

A Prayer for the Woman Carrying Too Much

Lord, You see my heart. You see my soul. You know what I am carrying and what lies ahead of me. I thank You for what You have done, what You are doing today, and what You will do tomorrow.

I declare You are good, even when I do not understand. You are good. I plead the blood of Jesus over my mind, my life, and this situation, (name it). I give it to You. I release it. Forgive me for trying to control what belongs in Your hands. Forgive me for my sin in it. Help me change. Help me overcome. Give me wisdom. Give me divine, supernatural strategy. Open doors no one can shut. Straighten paths I can’t straighten. Set my feet steady.

Break every demonic stronghold attached to this burden (name it). And let Your goodness take over. I trust You, Jesus. Holy Spirit, guide me and hold me.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Friend, Hear Me

I pray this blesses you and keeps you. Your walk is only beginning. The future is bright. God can turn things around. He has done it before. And He will do it again.