Trusting God Before You Understand is one of the greatest challenges of the Christian life. There are moments in our lives when God speaks so clearly that we know our response will change everything. Eleven years ago, my husband and I experienced one of those moments. We didn’t wake up one morning wanting a fresh start or dreaming about living in another country. We weren’t searching for a new adventure or a different way of life. If anything, we were content with what was familiar. We had our home, our routines, and the comfort of knowing what tomorrow would look like. But God had another plan.
He called us to leave everything we knew and move to the United Kingdom. More specifically, He spoke to us about revival. At the time, we didn’t fully understand what that meant or what it would require of us. Yet, in His kindness, God confirmed His word through different men and women of God. Without knowing our circumstances, they spoke words that aligned with what God had already placed in our hearts.
Those confirmations strengthened our faith, but they didn’t remove the need for obedience. We still had to choose whether we would trust His voice or lean on our own understanding. Trusting God Before You Understand is about believing His direction is good even when the destination is not yet clear.
The decision wasn’t easy because obedience rarely is. It meant saying goodbye to family, friends, familiar surroundings, and the life we had built. It meant stepping away from certainty and walking into the unknown. There was no detailed explanation, no carefully laid out timeline, and no guarantee of what the years ahead would hold. There was only one instruction from God: “Go.”
Looking back now, we realise that we thought obedience would immediately make sense. We assumed that because we had said yes, God would quickly reveal every detail of His plan. Instead, He taught us one of the greatest lessons of our Christian walk. Trusting God Before You Understand is a daily act of faith. Obedience doesn’t begin with understanding. It begins with trust.
Trusting God Before You Understand the Whole Story
One thing we’ve learned about God is that He rarely reveals the whole picture at once. We naturally want answers before we move. We want to know how everything will work out, how long the journey will take, what obstacles we’ll face, and when we’ll finally arrive at the destination He has promised. But God often chooses not to answer those questions because He is inviting us into something greater than certainty. He is inviting us into faith.
When we think about our journey, we can’t help but think about Abraham. In Hebrews 11:8, we’re told that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave his homeland, even though he didn’t know where he was going. God didn’t hand him a map with every stop marked out. He gave him a promise and asked him to trust the One who made it.
That is exactly what faith looks like. Trusting God Before You Understand is believing that He is faithful enough to lead you one step at a time. Looking back over the past eleven years, we can see that God never abandoned us because we lacked understanding. He simply gave us enough grace for the next step. Every season required fresh trust, fresh surrender, and a willingness to keep walking even when we couldn’t see what was around the corner.
Proverbs 3:5–6 has become more than a familiar passage to us. It has become part of our testimony: “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.” We used to read those words as encouragement. Now we read them as lived experience.
The Process That Comes After the Yes
What many people celebrate is the moment someone says yes to God. What very few people talk about is everything that happens after that yes.
No one really prepares you for the waiting. No one tells you about the quiet seasons where nothing seems to be happening, even though you’ve obeyed. No one explains how difficult it can be to keep trusting when you’ve already sacrificed so much and still haven’t seen what you expected. Trusting God Before You Understand becomes a daily choice during those seasons.
Those seasons became part of our story.
There were times when we questioned whether we had heard God correctly. There were moments when we wondered why everything seemed so slow. We found ourselves asking questions we never imagined we’d ask: “Lord, if You called us here, why can’t we see what You’re doing? Why does it feel like we’re waiting? Why does the promise seem so far away?”
Yet every time we brought those questions before God, He gently reminded us that His timing has never been rushed by human expectations. He wasn’t asking us to understand His methods. He was asking us to remain faithful.
It was during those hidden years that we realised something profound. God wasn’t delaying His purpose. He was developing His people. He was teaching us that Trusting God Before You Understand is often where faith grows the deepest.
God Was More Interested in Changing Us
When God first called us to the United Kingdom, we thought He was moving us because of what He wanted us to do. Looking back now, we can see that before He ever worked through us, He wanted to work deeply within us.
The move wasn’t just about changing our location. It was about changing our hearts.
God began exposing areas of our lives that we hadn’t fully surrendered. He revealed fears we had hidden beneath confidence, expectations we had placed above His will, and places where we were relying on our own strength instead of His Spirit. Little by little, He taught us what it really means to die to self. Trusting God before you understand requires surrender because you cannot follow Him wholeheartedly while holding tightly to your own plans.
Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” We had read those words many times before, but during this journey they became deeply personal. Dying to self wasn’t a one-time decision. It became a daily choice to surrender our plans, our timeline, our expectations, and even our desire to understand everything before moving forward.
The truth is, God cared more about who we were becoming than where we were going. He wasn’t simply preparing us for a place. He was preparing us to reflect Christ. Trusting God before we understood changed not only the direction of our lives but also the condition of our hearts.
The Difference Between Gifts and the Fruit of the Spirit
One of the greatest lessons God has taught us throughout this journey is the difference between spiritual gifts and the fruit of the Spirit. Trusting God Before You Understand taught us that our greatest priority was never simply discovering our gifts but allowing Him to transform our hearts. For a long time, we thought discovering our gifts was one of the most important parts of fulfilling God’s calling. While gifts certainly have their place, we’ve come to realise they are not the foundation of a fruitful Christian life.
Spiritual gifts are given by God’s grace. They equip us to serve His Kingdom and bless others. But the fruit of the Spirit is something entirely different. It is produced through a life surrendered to Christ. It grows slowly through seasons of obedience, refining, and dependence on the Holy Spirit. Trusting God Before You Understand means allowing God to develop your character before He expands your calling.
Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These aren’t simply qualities we decide to develop. They are evidence that Christ is transforming us from the inside out. As we continued Trusting God Before You Understand, we discovered that spiritual maturity is measured more by the fruit we bear than by the gifts we possess.
Looking back, we realise God was far more concerned with producing His fruit in our lives than simply allowing us to operate in our gifts. Trusting God before we understood meant allowing Him to shape our character before He expanded our ministry. Gifts may open doors, but character sustains the calling. Gifts may draw attention, but fruit points people to Jesus. Without love, humility, patience, and faithfulness, even the greatest gifts lose their eternal impact.
When Obedience Feels Like Loss
If we’re honest, there were seasons when obedience didn’t feel exciting. It felt costly.
There were moments when we missed home. There were days when we wondered if anyone saw the sacrifices we had made. There were seasons when it felt as though we had left everything behind without seeing what God had promised.
But over time, we learned that obedience often feels like loss before it feels like fulfilment.
What feels like God taking something away is often Him making room for something greater. What feels like silence is often Him building a foundation that no one else can see. What feels like delay is often His protection, His preparation, and His perfect timing working together for His glory.
Faith isn’t pretending that everything is easy. Faith is choosing to trust God when nothing around us seems to make sense.
Revival Begins in the Secret Place
When God first spoke to us about revival, we imagined something visible. We imagined large gatherings, transformed communities, and obvious signs that God’s hand was moving. While we still believe God desires to bring revival, we’ve come to understand that revival doesn’t begin on a platform.
Revival begins in the heart.
It begins in the secret place where no one else is watching. It begins every time we choose obedience over comfort, surrender over control, humility over pride, and faith over fear. Before God moves powerfully through His people, He first works deeply within them.
The greatest revival God began wasn’t around us. It was within us.
He revived our trust. He deepened our dependence on Him. He taught us that His presence is more valuable than visible success and that walking closely with Him is far greater than achieving anything for Him.
Perhaps that’s why the process has been so important. God wasn’t simply leading us to revival. He was making us people who could carry it with humility.
A Word for You
Perhaps you’re reading this because God has been asking you to take a step that doesn’t make sense. Maybe He’s calling you to leave something familiar, forgive someone who hurt you, begin something new, or simply trust Him through a season that feels uncertain. Whatever your journey looks like, I want you to know that you’re not alone.
If there’s one thing these past eleven years have taught us, it’s this: you don’t need to understand everything before you obey God. You don’t need all the answers before you take the first step. You don’t need to know how every chapter will unfold before saying yes to the Author of your story.
Trusting God Before You Understand means choosing faith over explanation. God has never asked us to walk by explanation. He has always asked us to walk by faith.
One day, you’ll look back and see His hand in places you couldn’t recognise at the time. You’ll realise that every season of waiting, every unanswered question, every sacrifice, and every act of obedience has been shaping you into the person He created you to be. The journey may not unfold the way you expected, but if God is leading you, you can trust that every step has purpose.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for being faithful even when we cannot see the whole picture. I pray for every person reading this who is in a season of waiting, uncertainty, or transition. Strengthen their faith to trust You before they understand what You are doing. Give them the courage to obey Your voice, even when the path ahead seems unclear. Produce within them the fruit of Your Spirit, shape their character to reflect Christ, and remind them that Your plans are always good and Your timing is always perfect. May they find peace in Your presence, confidence in Your promises, and joy in walking with You each day. In Jesus name, Amen.
Reflection
Take a quiet moment today and ask yourself this question:
What is God asking me to trust Him with, even though I don’t yet understand where it will lead?
Spend a few moments in prayer and invite the Holy Spirit to search your heart. You may not receive every answer today, but if God has spoken, you can trust Him with your next step. He often reveals His plans one step at a time because His greatest desire is not simply to lead you somewhere new but to draw you closer to Himself along the way.
If you’re walking through a season of uncertainty, remember that you don’t have to face it alone. God is faithful, even when the path ahead isn’t clear. Continue seeking Him, trusting His promises, and taking each step in obedience, knowing that He is guiding you every step of the way.
If this message encouraged you, you may also enjoy reading Trusting God in Uncertainty: Finding Peace in Every Season, where I share biblical encouragement for trusting God’s plan even when the future feels unclear.