How should I respond when God confuses me—when I don’t understand him?

Hebrews 10:23Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

Trust God at all times. Confusion comes when you waver, when you lose sight of the eternal blessings at the end of life’s road. If you let God’s Word be your compass for life, you will at least be certain about what roads not to take. That’s a great place to begin reducing the confusion in your life.

Acts 10:9-11, 16, 19-20Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the sky open. . . . The same vision was repeated three times. . . . As Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you. . . . Don’t worry, for I have sent them.”

Romans 8:26-27The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness . . . we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

1 Corinthians 2:12We have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

When you are in such confusion or turmoil that you don’t even know how to express it to God, the Holy Spirit prays for you and expresses your problems to God. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, who lives in you to give wisdom, discernment, and guidance. This amazing gift of God’s own presence within you helps you be less confused.

Isaiah 45:11This is what the Lord says—the Holy One of Israel and your Creator: “Do you question what I do for my children? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?”

Jonah 4:1–4This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”

Jonah was confused about the mercy of God. When you expect God to act in a certain way, you might be confused or even angry when you see what he actually does. Be humble; his ways are often not your ways. Examine your heart to see where you stand with God. Your heart will be confused if you are out of tune with him.

Respond in obedience to God regardless of how little you understand about his ways. Just as you don’t need to know everything about plumbing to take a bath, you don’t need to know everything about God to follow him. You just need to trust what he says.

Job 11:7“Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty?”

Ecclesiastes 11:5Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

Isaiah 45:15, 18Truly, O God of Israel, our Savior, you work in mysterious ways. . . . For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the Lord,” he says, “and there is no other.”

Habakkuk 2:1I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint.

Wait for God to answer. Don’t be confused when an immediate answer from God does not come. Realize that how and when he answers is always in your best interest because he created you for a purpose. The timing of answered prayer is as significant as the answer itself.