Learning to Trust God When Life Is Painful

Learning to trust is never easy.

Especially when your heart has been hurt.

But what if the hurt you’ve experienced is at the hands of a loving God? How do you reconcile God’s love and the pain you feel?

I mean, when we love God life shouldn’t hurt, right?

Well, today, I have my dear friend Lori Schumaker as a guest. She’s sharing her heart about what it looks like to trust when you love God and life is painful.

You probably remember Lori from our Wake Up to Gratitude series, which we’re hosting for the second year in a row. But you might not know that Lori has been there for me through some pretty painful times.  She’s fought a battle or two herself and now she shares some lessons on trust that have been hard-fought but well worth learning.

These are lessons learned through her roller coaster journey of adoption which Lori recently wrote about in her just-released book Surrendered Hearts: An Adoption Story of Love, Loss, and Learning to Trust.

Today, you get to witness Lori’s heart for the lonely, the hurting and the ones who are seeking to be found. Friend, I fit right in there, and perhaps you do too.

I pray that Lori’s words will encourage you, offer you hope and remind you that learning to trust a trustworthy God is worth it.

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Learning to Trust God When Life Is Painful

By Lori Schumaker

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. -Hebrews 10:36 NLT

It’s a moment etched permanently into the memory files within my mind, as well as hemmed into the tender places of my heart. I believe we are probably the same in that way – each of us having those kinds of moments tucked away somewhere forever.

We were expecting a celebratory call. One that would officially tell us the child we believed to be our daughter had in fact been granted to us. Already planning how it would go and what the next few weeks would look like, in our minds the call was just a formality.

But bad news never catches us prepared.

The telephone call didn’t hold good news. Instead, it shattered my heart into a million pieces that day.

Our news was not what we wanted to hear. The little girl to whom we have all given our hearts has been given to another family.

I praise God that her life will still begin anew, and she will be loved and cherished, but it would be a lie to say that my heart is not broken.

I don’t understand why God made my heart respond to her in such a way and allowed me to fall deeply in love with her. I don’t understand how our family, even our sweet boys, could see her as the perfect fit. I don’t know why it felt completely right. But for some reason, the MOJ decided on another family. I must believe God’s hand was in that and that He’s doing what’s best for her and for us. He sees the bigger picture, and I am thankful to Him for that, but it has left an ache in my heart . . . a big one.

I don’t like this side to the emotional roller coaster of adoption.” -Lori Schumaker from Surrendered Hearts

 

Our adoption journey was one of learning to surrender and learning to trust.

Layer upon layer, God peeled away our need to control our own circumstances. Then He taught us that learning to trust doesn’t come through living an easy version of life.

 

As we went up and down the roller-coaster of adoption – looping down into heartache and climbing up to peaks of joy – we saw a God who shows up in both places. And from the other side of heartache, we saw how He delivered our souls through pain reassuring us that He does save and He does make a way when there seems to be no way.

Those journeys are never fun. They are brutal. But as hard as those journeys may be, surviving the brutal builds strength of character and will. And it builds something else.

It builds trust.

When we can look at what God has done before, we learn to trust He will do it again. Because, friends, He isn’t closing up the business of deliverance – nor of making miracles happen.

God has been in the miracle making business since the beginning of time and He will continue until the end of time.

I don’t know what you are facing right now. It might be a huge obstacle with insurmountable places of heartache. Your way through the pain may not be clear and you may wonder whether or not there really is a way. And the questions may have traveled through your mind.

Why?

Why would God allow this heartache?

Friend, we may never know that answer.

“Sometimes we get to see the why behind the way. But other times we don’t. We must surrender any right to know the why and choose to unconditionally accept life as it is.” – Lori Schumaker from Surrendered Hearts

But what I can tell you is that God promises to deliver us to the other side and He never goes back on a promise. His nature is truth. He is incapable of lying.

 

The day will come when you find yourself on the other side of the heartache.

Remnants of the pain may linger forever, but you will find that whether you limped, crawled, or ran – you made it back up to the top of that peak.

You found joy once again.

You’ll see that God got you there and because He got you there once, He will get you there the next time, too.

That’s trust.

That’s a trust that can only come from walking through the hardest places of life.

So, today, I challenge you to surrender your heart to the One who makes the impossible possible. Live surrendered and learn to trust that when you follow Christ, He will make a way and lead you to joy once again.

Surrendered Hearts: An Adoption Story of Love, Loss, and Learning to Trust is the story of our roller coaster journey to our daughter, Selah. But it’s also the journey to learning to live surrendered and trust in Christ to make the impossible possible. I pray it encourages you to experience the fullness of His love and the power of living surrendered.

 

Wishing you blessings!

Lori

About Lori Schumaker

As wife, adoptive and biological mom, teacher, writer, speaker, and coach, Lori’s heart is to encourage others to meet the challenges of life with the hope of Christ. Wherever you find yourself today – walking through the difficult, longing to find your identity and follow your purpose, or simply experiencing a season of beautiful chaos, Lori’s blog found at www.LoriSchumaker.com is a place where you can find the encouragement you need today. In her first book she shares her family’s adoption story and lessons on surrender, trust, and loving well. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

 

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