Before I Know How It Turns Out

“Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.”
Psalm 62:5–8

Sometimes one solution to a problem starts to feel like the only way things can turn out okay. We watch the phone, check the email again, replay the conversation, or keep looking for one more thing we can do to make it happen. We tell ourselves we will relax when we know how it turns out. Until then, our mind keeps working because the situation still feels unfinished. The problem is no longer only what might happen. We begin to feel that our peace depends on getting the answer we want.

David, Israel’s king, had lived through success, danger, enemies, and long stretches when he could not control what came next. He knew what it was like to face problems where the outcome could seriously affect his life. Still, he could say, “My salvation and my honor depend on God,” and call Him “my mighty rock, my refuge” (Psalm 62:7). Those words mean more when life is unsettled and the answer is still unknown. David was not saying the outcome no longer mattered. He was refusing to let it decide whether he was secure. That opens another way for us to see an unfinished situation. The problem can still be unresolved while we begin trusting God with what happens next.

A little later, the reason for that trust becomes clearer. “Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love” (Psalm 62:11–12). The word omnipotence is one way Christians have described this part of God’s nature. His power has no limit. But David does not leave power standing by itself. He places it beside God’s unfailing love. That means His answer is not limited to the one solution we believe would be best. He may respond in the way we hope, but His power to care for us and bring good is not confined to our choices. God can still care for us in ways we did not expect, even when the path ahead looks different from the one we had chosen.

That may be where another promise opens the picture wider. “No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless” (Psalm 84:11). We often think of what is “good” as the answer we are hoping for. But God’s power is not limited to our picture of what good must look like. Proverbs says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps” (Proverbs 16:9). Could a different path sometimes be more than a disappointment to endure? Could it also become a place where God gives something good we would never have known to ask for? His way of caring for us may be different from what we expected without ever being less.

We may go to bed tonight still hoping for the very answer we have been praying for, and God may yet give it. But our hope does not have to become a demand before we can rest. The God whose power has no limit is not limited to one way of providing for us. His faithful love is already with us, and we can trust Him for what we need.

Prayer

Father, when I cannot see how things will turn out, help me rest in Your faithful love and trust Your provision. Keep my hope in You, not in the answer I think I need. Amen.