Ask Abigail: Holding On to Faith in Heavy Seasons

📩 The Reader's Letter

Dear Abigail,

I never imagined I would find myself struggling like this.

It seems like one thing after another keeps happening. Just when I think life is beginning to settle down, another difficulty comes along. I have prayed, trusted God, and tried to remain faithful, but I am growing weary. What troubles me most is not even the circumstances themselves. It is what they are doing to my faith.

I know God is faithful because His Word says He is. I have seen Him work in my life before, and I truly believe He is good. Yet I cannot understand why these hardships keep coming. Sometimes I wonder if I am doing something wrong or if God is trying to tell me something.

Lately, I have found myself wrestling with thoughts I never expected to have. I wonder why God seems silent. I wonder why He allows one trial after another. Then I feel guilty for even thinking those things because I know I should trust Him.

I don't want these struggles to harden my heart or weaken my faith. I want to keep believing, even when I don't understand.

Abigail, how do I hold on to my faith when life's hardships leave me questioning what God is doing?

— Holding On

✍️ Abigail’s Response

Dear Holding On,

Thank you for trusting me with something that many people feel but few are willing to say out loud.

First, I want you to know that you are not alone. Many believers are asking these same questions right now. There have been seasons in my own walk with Christ when I have wrestled with them as well. It is not an easy place to be when your heart knows God is faithful, but your circumstances make it difficult to understand what He is doing.

I wish I could tell you exactly why these hardships have come into your life, but I cannot. God works personally in each of our lives, and His purposes are often different from one person to another.

• Some trials come to strengthen our faith.
• Others draw us closer to Him, teach us perseverance, or reveal areas where we need to grow.
• Prepare us to encourage someone else someday.
• And sometimes, we simply do not know the reason this side of heaven.

What I do know is that God has not forgotten you.

🚨 The Trap of the "Silent Season"

One of the enemy's greatest tactics during difficult seasons is to convince us that God's silence means His absence. Scripture tells a different story. The Lord is near, even when we cannot feel Him working.

When the apostle Peter wrote to believers who were suffering, he did not promise that life would suddenly become easier. Instead, he reminded them to "cast all their care upon God because He cares for them" (1 Peter 5:7). Peter knew what it was like to face hardship, uncertainty, and even failure. Yet he also knew the faithfulness of Christ.

The apostle Paul also encouraged believers not to "be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Galatians 6:9). That encouragement was never meant only for serving others. It reminds us that faithfulness often requires endurance.

💡 Key Takeaway: There are seasons when continuing to trust God is itself an act of worship.

Paul understood what it meant to endure one hardship after another. He described his own life this way: "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

Notice that Paul did not deny the reality of his suffering. He acknowledged it honestly. He was troubled, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not without hope. Persecuted, but never abandoned. Cast down, but never destroyed. With every hardship came an even greater assurance that God was still with him. I believe that is a promise you can hold onto as well. Your circumstances may shake you, but they cannot separate you from the faithful presence of your Heavenly Father.

🕊️ The Comfort of a Savior Who Suffered

Perhaps the greatest comfort is found in Jesus Himself. Before He ever went to the cross, Jesus experienced the hardships of living in a broken world. He knew rejection, misunderstanding, grief, exhaustion, temptation, and sorrow. He understands what it feels like to walk through suffering because He willingly entered the human experience.

After His time of testing in the wilderness, when He had endured forty days of temptation, "the angels came and ministered unto him" (Matthew 4:11). What a beautiful reminder that the Father did not abandon His Son in His time of need.

The same God who strengthened Jesus has not stopped caring for His children. While we may not see angels with our own eyes, God still ministers to us through His Holy Spirit, through His Word, through the encouragement of other believers, and through His faithful presence. Sometimes His comfort comes quietly, giving us just enough strength to take the next step when we thought we could not keep going.

🛠️ What to Do While You Wait

So what do you do while you are waiting for answers? Keep doing the very things that keep your heart anchored in Christ:

1. Continue praying, even when your words are few.
2. Stay in God's Word, even when you do not feel immediate encouragement.
3. Surround yourself with faithful believers who will remind you of God's promises when your own heart grows weary.
4. Bring your questions to the Lord instead of allowing them to draw you away from Him.

Questions brought to God can deepen our faith, but questions carried alone can slowly lead us into discouragement.

Holding On, your faith is not measured by whether you have questions. It is measured by where you take those questions. Keep bringing them to the Lord. He is not intimidated by your tears or discouraged by your weariness. He invites you to come to Him.

One day you may look back and see what you cannot see today. Until then, hold tightly to what you know to be true about God's character, even when you cannot understand His plan. The God who has been faithful before will remain faithful still.

Blessings,

Abigail