Resting in the Lord: Trusting God’s Perfect Plan

It’s taken me decades to understand this, but there’s a quiet power in surrender. Recently, I’ve been disappointed and heartbroken about a change in a relationship. It was a sudden, painful estrangement–it left me reeling and and grief-stricken.

I cried—a lot. And then my natural instinct kicked in: let me try to fix this. My normal mode of operation is to take control of the chaos and reach some sort of detente. But I’m doing something different.

Jennifer Rothschild, in her book/video series Missing Pieces, gives a vivid illustration of what happens when we don’t wait on the Lord—when we take matters into our own hands.

God promises Abram (later Abraham) that he will have an heir of his own flesh and blood. In fact, God takes him outside and says: 

“Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them…
So shall your offspring be.”
(Genesis 15:5)

But time passed and no child came. So Abram’s wife Sarai (later Sarah), like many of us, tried to “help” God along by giving her servant Hagar to Abram, thinking perhaps this was how God would fulfill the promise.

As you may already know, that decision brought more heartbreak than healing. Hagar’s pregnancy introduced jealousy and suffering into the household—and it echoed through generations (see Genesis 16 and 21).

Rothschild points out that Sarai’s story is a cautionary tale—not to shame us, but to remind us that God’s timing is always better than ours. He doesn’t need our manipulation. He needs our trust.

Back to the crisis in my life. In the face of despair, instead of agonizing and then launching into action, this time I paused. Through tears, I reached out—not to the person involved—but to my prayer warrior friends. I asked them to surround me and the whole messy situation with prayer. And in that moment of surrender, something shifted: I chose to let God handle what I could not.

I’m anchoring myself with the following verse:

                       “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him…”
                                                (Psalm 37:7)

I have actively decided not to plan and not to obsess. I am still. And I am waiting—though not always patiently. It’s an ongoing process, but every time the knot in my stomach returns, I turn it over to God. And slowly, that all-consuming anxiety has begun to dissolve.

The situation hasn’t been resolved. Not yet. But something inside me has changed. My heart isn’t tangled in fear anymore. Instead, it’s leaning on faith. God hasn’t given me the outcome, but He has given me peace in the waiting.

Paul, writing to the Philippians from prison, tells us not to be anxious about anything. That sounds impossible, doesn’t it? But Philippians 4:6 isn’t just a suggestion—it’s a strategy.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

The prayer and petition part has not been too difficult. But wait a minute—with thanksgiving?? I’m supposed to be thankful for this gut-punch? That’s a tall order, but I’m trying.

My prayer goes something like this: Lord, I’m giving this situation to You and I’m trying to be thankful for the opportunity to grow my patience and my faith. I know that Your plan is better than my plan, and I’m trusting You. Amen.

What happens next?

                 “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
                    will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
                                              (Philippians 4:7)

It’s hard to explain how peace can coexist with heartbreak, but it’s happening. By turning it all over to God, I have truly had glimpses of the peace that passes understanding. It doesn’t make logical sense, but God’s thoughts and ways are higher than mine, right?

Trust isn’t a one-time decision for me. It’s an on-going daily choice. Every time the sick feeling returns, I have to choose to trust again. Every time I’m tempted to text, to fix, to defend—I pause. I pray. I release.

Sometimes I do this 20 times a day. But each time I choose to rest in the Lord instead of wrestle with the problem, I am learning something deeper: God is trustworthy. His track record is flawless.

He is not ignoring me. He is working behind the scenes. He is tending to my heart. He is writing a better story than I could write for myself–I’m waiting for His perfect plan to unfold.

And even if the outcome looks different than I hope—He will still be good. He will still be God