THRIVE LESSON: TRUSTING GOD

Why It’s Hard, Why It’s Critical, and How to Grow in It

I. INTRODUCTION: WHY TRUSTING GOD IS SO HARD

Start with this question to the group:

“Why do you think it’s hard to trust God—even when we know He’s good?”

Key Reasons:

- Our Core Traumas (Abandonment, Betrayal, Loss/Grief, Abuse, Attachment Issues)

- We’ve been let down by people (parents, spouses, leaders).

- We fear loss of control.

- We want comfort more than growth.

- We confuse God with our circumstances.

- We assume God should do things our way.

“Trusting God doesn't mean believing He will do what you want. It means believing He will do what is right.” — Max Lucado

II. WHY TRUSTING GOD RARELY LOOKS LIKE WHAT WE EXPECT

Biblical Examples:

1. Abraham – Promised a son, waited 25 years (Genesis 12–21)

2. Joseph – Had dreams, then was betrayed, imprisoned, forgotten (Genesis 37–50)

3. Moses – Chosen leader, but wandered 40 years (Exodus–Deuteronomy)

4. Jesus Himself – Faced rejection, suffering, and the cross (Isaiah 53; Luke 22:42)

Discussion Question:

“Have you ever trusted God and things got harder before they got better?”

III. STRUGGLES ARE A CRITICAL PART OF TRUST

“We often want the fruit of trust without the soil of struggle.”

We tend to see struggles as interruptions to life, but in God’s hands, they are instruments of transformation. God often uses pain, discomfort, and delay not to punish us — but to prepare us.

Struggles prove His trustworthiness.

Not because God always fixes our problems or rescues us from hardship immediately. But through the struggle, we discover that:

- He is present. — “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” (Psalm 23:4)

- He is faithful. — “The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.” (Psalm 145:13)

- He loves us regardless of outcome. — Whether we “succeed” in human terms or not, God’s love does not fluctuate with our performance.

STRUGGLE FORCES US OUT OF COMFORT

Struggles are often God’s way of disrupting our comfort zones.

Comfort can lead to complacency.

Complacency leads to spiritual stagnation.

And stagnation leads to disconnection from God’s purpose for our lives.

- We become numb in our routines.

- We stop reaching.

- We settle for “good enough.”

But God desires something greater for us than what we’ve grown comfortable in.

“Woe to you who are at ease in Zion…” — Amos 6:1

“I will shake all nations… and the desire of all nations will come.” — Haggai 2:7

He allows forced discomfort so that we don’t settle for a life of lesser purpose. It’s not cruelty — it’s mercy. God doesn’t want us to just survive our situations. He wants us to grow through them.

Discussion Questions:

• What is an area where God has used struggle to pull you out of comfort?

• Can you recall a time when you came to know God's presence more clearly through hardship than ease?