20 Bible Verses About Trusting God in Difficult Times

It’s easy to trust God when life is going well.   But when difficult times come, we need an anchor to hold us steady in trust.  Today we’ll look at 20 Bible verses about trusting God in difficult times.

These verses are promises to cling to, anchors to hold us in life’s storms.

Meanwhile, may we never forget that it’s not up to us to cling to the anchor.  Our heavenly Father is holding onto us.

I also invite you to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to help you have hope in difficult times.

Bible Verses About Trusting God in Difficult Times

Let’s turn to God’s Word.

20 Bible Verses About Trusting God in Difficult Times

1. Isaiah 41:10

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. ESV

God is with you, and he will uphold you and give you strength.

You can endure this difficult time because you are not walking alone.  Find comfort in the presence of God.

2. 1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

In difficult times, it’s easy for fear to get a foothold.

We don’t need to fear because God’s love is in us.

Ask God to help you rest in his love as he pushes out all fear during this time.

3. Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

This verse reminds us that even in the darkest valleys, God is with us.

He comforts us and protects us.  Nothing reaches us without passing through him first.

4. Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Rather than embracing anxious thoughts, God calls us to pray.  When we do, his peace guards our hearts and minds.

Worrying creates the illusion of controlling life’s challenging situations; prayer actually makes an impact.

5.  John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Before he ascended into heaven, Jesus promised peace to his followers.  When our hearts are troubled, we can cling to this promise of peace.

6. 1 Peter 5:7

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 

In difficult times, God calls us to cast our anxieties and fears on him.  Too often, I ruminate over fears and worries.  Imagine how different our lives would be if we learned to cast our cares on him immediately!

7. Matthew 6:34

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 

Much of what we worry about never ends up happening.  May we remember this as we aim to live present to our daily moments, not worrying about the future.

8. Isaiah 40:31

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Do you feel weary as you endure this difficult time?

Keep looking to God.

Wait on the Lord, and he will give you strength.

Additionally, Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us what to do while we wait: We don’t lean on our human understanding or reasoning.  Instead, we trust that God’s ways are perfect.  We keep looking to him while we wait, and we trust that he will make the way clear for us.

9. Psalm 27:14

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

God’s timing is always perfect.  His ways are not our ways, but he will never abandon his children.  He also promises to finish what he starts (see Phil. 4:6).

Ask God to give you courage as you wait for him to lead you out of this difficult situation.

In the meantime, he will show you how to be strong and keep working while you wait.

10. Isaiah 30:18

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.

Remind yourself that God is looking for ways to show kindness and mercy to you.  He might seem silent, but this does not mean he isn’t working in your life.

Trust that he is arranging the circumstances around you so that you will see his glory when your wait is over.  He is never idle.

11. Ecclesiastes 3:1

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

We can trust that when we seek God with our whole hearts, aiming to walk in his ways, he will deliver us at the right time.

12. Galatians 6:9

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Years ago, an older woman encouraged me by telling me that she often experienced the greatest breakthroughs in her life just after renewing her commitment not to give up.  She said that when she felt most tempted to give up, she turned to God and asked for direction.  If she sensed him asking her to press forward, she obeyed.

She often experienced great breakthroughs shortly after obeying.

This reminds me that when I’m most tempted to walk away from an endeavor, I should seek God.  If I sense him leading me to stay the course, I, too, often experience fruit on the other side of obedience.

13. 2 Peter 3:8

14. Lamentations 3:25-26

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

When we faithfully seek God, he rewards us with blessings.  God is good to those who respond to his pursuit and seek his face.

If you feel weary from waiting on God, commit to continuing to turn toward him.  Keep reading your Bible, gathering with others to worship, praying, and pursuing him.  This is how we wait quietly for his deliverance.

15. Luke 18:27

But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Never forget that what feels impossible to us is possible with God.  No situation is too far beyond his ability to intervene.  No dream is too great.  We cannot make requests that are beyond his capability.

Our role is to align our hearts with his heart.  The more we seek him, the more our desires also begin to align with his desires.  When this happens, God moves mountains because our prayers align with his will for us.

16. Matthew 6:25

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

This verse reminds us that God cares for us.  He wants to meet our needs.  Instead of worrying about his provision, he invites us to lift our eyes to him and wait for him to provide for us.

17. Matthew 6:34

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Jesus reminds us to keep our eyes fixed on today.  We can plan for the future, but worrying about it takes away our peace.

Have you been worried about something that has not yet happened?

Remind yourself that much of what we worry about never takes place.  Furthermore, even if your worst-case scenario becomes reality, God will carry you through it.  This leads to our next verse.

18. 2 Timothy 1:7

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Are you worried about an endeavor that feels intimidating?

Remind yourself that the spirit of fear is not from God.  Instead, God gives us the spirit of love, power, and self-discipline.  Don’t listen to the voice of fear.

19. Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

God is working even when we cannot see his hand at work.

He is inviting you to new levels of faith.  Will you trust that he is working in unseen places?  If so, your faith will grow.  God will also help you rise above your greatest worries.

20. Psalm 121:1-2

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 

Instead of gazing at your worries, fix your eyes on Jesus.  Tell him about your worries and ask him to help you surrender these cares into his hands.  He promises to lift your burdens for you.

You might need to surrender these burdens dozens, or even hundreds of times.  That’s okay.  Every time you feel worries arise within you, surrender them to Jesus again.

~~~

Let’s now apply these Bible verses about trusting God in difficult times to our lives.

Bible Verses About Trusting God in Difficult Times: Applications

Years ago, I thought I knew all about trusting God.  And then our family went through a long year of loss and grief.  My understanding had to go deeper when the next year met us with even greater storms.

Sometimes, there’s simply no way of preparing for the season that falls upon your lap.  The best you can do is take a deep breath and ask the Father to help you peel back another layer of understanding.

As we stepped into a new season of trust and faith, I found myself wrestling with everything I knew about how to have trust that can’t be shaken.  I also discovered a remarkable truth: God is enough, and he carries me through every storm.

As we weathered our storm, God gave me hope.  He lifted my head on the darkest days.

If you are in need of hope today, here are some truths to hold onto.

When You Need to Know That God Is Enough

1. You can trust that God is enough because lasting hope is personal.

Hebrews 6:19 reads, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil” (NASB).

Let’s pause to examine the last six words of this verse: “hope which enters within the veil.”

Before Jesus died on the cross, a four-inch-thick curtain separated the holiest part of the Tabernacle from the rest of the structure.  Only one priest entered this holy part of the Tabernacle (and only once every year).

The priest entered on behalf of God’s people to make atonement and pay the price for their sins. It has been said that he entered with a rope around his leg so that just in case the glory of God killed him, his body could be pulled out.

I’d been following Jesus for quite some time when I discovered one of the startling events that took place the moment Jesus died on the cross: The veil of the temple was torn in two!

God reached down and tore the veil when Jesus paid the price for our sins.  He was showing us that the annual tradition of sending a priest to make atonement was over.  He was inviting us all to enter the holiest place of a face-to-face relationship with him, all because Jesus made a way.  This leads us to our second truth about holding onto hope:

2. God is enough because lasting hope involves face-to-face interaction.

When the bottom falls out from life, nothing short of face-to-face interaction with Living Hope will suffice.

Hope in Jesus is intimate, personal, and current.

It is for today.

He waits for you to run into his arms today, making hope about an eternal relationship that begins in the here and now (see John 17:3).  The veil was torn.  Your Living Hope invites you to draw near, and he stands with open arms.

3. God is enough because he is a secure place to fix your eyes.

Alexandar MacLaren writes, “Just as when a man’s eye is fixed upon the reddening dawn of the morning sky, all the trees and objects between him and it are toned down into one uniform blackness, so when we have that great light shining beyond the earthly horizon all the colours of the objects between us and it will be less garish, and they will dwindle into comparative insignificance.”

Jesus endured suffering by fixing his eyes on the joy set before him (see Hebrews 12:2).

Friend, Jesus is your ever-present source of joy.  We overcome difficult circumstances by fixing our eyes on his ever-shining light instead of the hardships at hand.

4. God is an anchor outside your strength and human resources.

An anchor within the hull of a ship will serve no purpose in a raging storm.  In the same way, hope fixed upon what I can control will falter when the hardest storms strike.  We need to fix our hope in an anchor outside ourselves.

Albert Barnes writes, “Hope accomplishes for the soul the same thing which an anchor does for a ship. It makes it fast and secure. An anchor preserves a ship when the waves beat and the wind blows, and as long as the anchor holds, so long the ship is safe, and the mariner apprehends no danger.”

Christ is the anchor of stability and security in the storms of life. I am secure when I keep my eyes on his light, rest in Word, and seek his face continually. Share on X

Are you facing a storm? Hold onto this promise: God is enough.

He offers lasting hope.  Lasting hope has nothing to do with the circumstances surrounding you.  We find lasting hope in Jesus.  He promises to stay with us always. 

If these Bible verses about trusting God in difficult times blessed you, I invite you to explore our devotionals and free library of eBooks below.  Most of all, I pray you will encounter the One who wants to carry you through this difficult season.

Calling All Parents and Grandparents!

As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God.  Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 15, share this vision.  They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or older relatives to read with the children and teens they love.  You can find all three books here or read more below.

Attention All Boy Moms (and Dads)!

God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength helps young boys, ages 5-13, learn what it means to trust God and become strong warriors for his kingdom.  Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to boldly carry God’s love into the world.  I wrote this boys’ devotional book with our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven!  You’ll enjoy their honesty as we teach boys how to be strong warriors for the Lord.  Find this life-changing devotional book here.

Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter

Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion.  I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven.  Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.

Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20.  It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing.  This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start.  Bekah and I will help you right here.

Find Our Family Devotionals Here

Find all three books right here.  They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial!  These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them.  Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.

A Free Devotional to Help You Draw Near to the Lord

Are you in the middle of a difficult season? Hope for Hard Days is a free 10-day online devotional to help you hold onto hope when life is tough.  You will find 10 readings to help you connect with God and claim his peace.  Click here and I’ll send it to your email inbox today for free with promo code HOPE. I also offer a library of free online devotional eBooks for free.  I invite you to explore the collection right here!