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Hello, everybody, and welcome to the walking the way with Dr. Carlos Quijada podcast where we explore different things about life. You know, who can argue that life is full of challenges, but at the same time, um we we need to keep on walking, we need to keep on moving forward, and and here we discuss on how how can we how can we understand different things that we experience uh in our daily living and uh how to make better sense of it. But uh, truth be told, there are times that things just don't make sense as much as we look around it, as much as we try to analyze it. Uh, there are situations in our lives when things just don't seem to add up, and perhaps you that are watching might relate to that. Uh, maybe you're in that situation right now that uh there are things that you expect it to be in a certain way, but it's completely different of what you thought it would be. So in today's um discussion, uh, we're gonna talk about that. On um how can we trust God when you just can't make sense of things, when things just don't make sense, um, when we believe that God would do something, or or that things will turn out in a certain way, but they don't. And and I and if you feel that way, or maybe you've been through that and and you want to grow more and how to deal with it. Well, this episode is for you. And I want to start with this question: have you ever prayed for something? You believed it, uh, you have faith that God would do it. Uh things just go in a completely different direction. Uh, maybe a door that you were sure God could open, but it didn't. Uh it got it was closed. Uh perhaps a situation you thought would work out, it didn't work out. Or maybe you're in a season um when right now you're just asking, God, what in what on earth are you doing? And and many times we feel, well, this is not uh right for me to ask that, but but come on, let like let's be honest. And and this is what it's about. It's about having honest conversations. We ask ourselves, like, what in the world is God doing right now? Like uh uh I've been praying for this, and I've been doing X, Y, and Z correctly, and and I should get this result, but it's not what is happening right now. Like, like what in the world? I I just don't understand. And these kind of moments can really shake you, it can really uh affect uh even your faith and and whether you are truly uh doing the things that you should do, and and and when you feel that you are, and then you don't know what is walking righteously looks like. Um there are situations that yes, uh we go through things that are the result of how uh we've been living or decisions that we've made that weren't the right decisions. But there are times that it's like we do all the right things, and and yet it's like I don't know why are things falling apart, or so it seems that they are. Uh one example that I've I've shared in a previous episode is uh Job, right? He he was a man that even God Himself recognized him as a righteous man, uh like no other at his time and and region, and yet he went through a lot. Uh and if you haven't read Job, uh yeah, I I recommend you to do it, and that when you do, really get some uh Kleenex and just just with a hard willing to hear some hard stories, but but yet there's so many of us that endure difficult times, tragedies, even when we're doing the right thing. Uh just because we are living it with a high standard, it doesn't exempt us from going through situations that are dark and and uncertain. Um and as human beings, we ask ourselves, like, did did I miss something? Did uh did I get it wrong? Or uh if God is good, why is He allowing this? And if we're not careful, these um this confusion can slowly turn into doubt, and doubt can turn into distancing. Uh, there are people that they walk away from God, maybe they do it for a season, some do it for a very, very long time because they live confused, and and it's not what God wants, but He gives us that free agency as human beings, the free will to choose. And those are those moments in which we need to decide okay, am I going to just throw the towel and give up, or am I going to push forward, keep on walking, and just embrace this moment, even if I don't understand, but wait in the Lord until I'm able to find answers, if ever. And that's that's the hard part of it. And I'm gonna talk a little more on that. Um, but but you know, there's something that we usually don't talk about, and and is that uh sometimes what's being challenged, it'sn't just our faith in God. Uh some might be listening to me right now and be like, you know, yes, I'm going through through it right now, and and I believe in God, I've trusted in God. Isn't it supposed to work out that if I have faith, like I talked uh previous uh occasion, it should work like magic, like like clockwork. I believe and things happen. I call things into existence, they exist. If I tell this mountain, get into the old into the water, to the ocean, if I have faith like a mustard seed, it will happen. But faith is not magic, like I said before. Faith is deeper than that, it's about trusting God, it's about obedience. Um, but as we look into those moments in which things just don't make sense to us, it has a lot to do of uh with our expectations of how we thought life was supposed to go. Uh and when we have expectations that don't align with God's plans, yes, there's gonna be dissolution, there's gonna be disappointments, because we we're trying to accommodate God to our own plans, our own agenda. And that's the tricky part where we need to break from that and accommodate ourselves to God's agenda. And and that's and that's the the tension here between um being dissolution in times that are senseless and being strong and trusting in God even when we don't understand what's going on. Um, you know, in some ways, many of us, we just build this picture in our minds. Uh if I follow God, uh things will will just fall in place. Uh I I remember that um there was this young couple that they were uh getting ready to to uh to marry and and they had these wonderful plans, and these were individuals that were in the church and and you know doing all the right things, and and they had this expectation that their marriage was gonna be perfect because they believed in God, they trusted in God, so they wouldn't have any issues, and uh uh and a lot of people come into a new endeavor with that mindset. And yes, God is He He cares for us, He He guides us, but that um that that view, that mindset, it's not necessarily how things are gonna be. Challenges will come, even if you're about to get married and you are trusting in God and seeking God, there will be challenges. If you're gonna start a business, if if God is at the center of your life, there will be challenges. Anything that you are embarking on, there will be difficult times. And I'm not saying that there might be, or or you know, probably there will be challenges because it's part of growing, it's part of drawing closer to God, and and it's through those difficult moments when we uh truly experience God at a deeper level, and and it's just part of how our humanity can gradually surrender more and more to the will of God. Um, but yes, guys, when when reality doesn't match the picture that we created for ourselves, it just creates this tension uh in in our minds and our souls that can make it really difficult for us to move forward in life. Um, and the reason is because we weren't truly trusting in God, and that's and that's an important point here because some people say, Well, I have faith in God, but we must ask ourselves whether we are trusting our own versions of how he should work. Because it's very easy to say, I trust in God, but is it that you're trusting that he will do what you want him to do, or do you truly trust in God no matter what he does? And that's the real question there. Uh, when we have expectations of what he's going to do that are not what he wants to do, then we are on for a big surprise. It's really going to be a hard realization when we notice that things don't always work out the way we want them to do. And that's the place where we as individuals, uh, as couples, as uh as family, we need to get to in our walk, get to a place where we can genuinely, honestly say, I trust God no matter what he does. Like these three young men, Jewish young men in Babylon, known as Chadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I I just love when they were challenged with being thrown into the uh fire, fiery furnace for not bowing before the the idol that Nebuchadnezzar had created. And and they said, you know, uh king, we we don't need to submit to this. We we only bow down to the God of Israel. And and we and and the king got upset, he says, I'm gonna throw you into this hot furnace, and and there's no escaping for you. And he says, you know, we we trust that God is capable. Notice they didn't say that he will do it, they said that he is able to deliver us from this hot furnace. But here's the the great thing they said afterwards. But even if he doesn't know, O King, that we will not surrender to the statue that you have created. So they left room for the possibility that they might just burn a life in there. But even so, they put their trust in God. And and I uh every time I read that, it's it's so encouraging to see uh individuals who had this level of faith. And these were people like you and I who uh they had their struggles, they probably were scared at the moment, but they made the decision to trust in God no matter what. And time and time again, scripture reminds us that God's ways are higher than our ways. In Isaiah chapter 55, verse 8 and 9 says that just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God's ways higher than our ways, and his thoughts higher than our thoughts. And that may be a reason why many times we don't understand what God is doing. It's just that his ways, his thoughts are so much higher, are so greater. He sees not just the bigger picture, he sees a whole picture. When we compare ourselves with the greatness of God, and and and maybe you you that are watching, you don't have much faith in God, but look the universe around us. More and more scientists agree that there had to be someone who originated all this, it couldn't just happen in itself. Uh, some call it intelligent design. And when we look at the universe and and the the small scale of the how tiny we are, it's it's it's mind-blowing that the earth is like a little tiny speck in the vastness of the universe, and in that spec, there are billions of us that are living there, and just and you are one of those billion people. So when we think of a God who created all this, he's a great God, so he can see way beyond what you and I can see and understand, and most importantly, that not only that is that he loves us so much and he has the intention to guide us, to care for us, and provide for everything that we need. So when we think of how great God is and how great is his love, why not trust him, right? Why not uh just be like, you know, it doesn't make sense to me right now, but my vision, my vintage point, my view of the situation, it's so narrow, it's so small that I know there are parts that are in my blind side. I can't see them, but I choose to trust in a God who can see every detail of my life. So it's like Paul he says to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5 7, if you would like to look it up, it says, walk by faith and not by sight, right? So we we must trust in him and not in our own understanding, like we read in the book of Proverbs. Another example that we see is the sample of Joseph. And and and again, like I said before, there are different uh individuals that went through this, and they're there as um examples for us that God He can work miracles when we put our trust in Him. Joseph, he was a young man that unjustly was sold into human trafficking uh by his own brothers, and he lived as a slave in Egypt, and on top of that, he was uh unjustly put in prison where he was for a few years, and and he went through all this stuff, and he just kept trusting and trusting in God until the day came for him to be reivindicated, and he became second in command in the biggest empire of his time, which which with with which was Egypt, and he was able to even save his family, and and it's a just a remarkable story of redemption of what God can do when we trust in him, even when we don't understand. So, what do we do when life doesn't make sense? What are some practical ways uh that we can live this out as we walk the way with the Lord? Uh first and foremost, be honest with God. In some cultures, uh, we tend to cover up and be like, you know, uh, we know we don't know, but we pretend that we know. You don't need to pretend before God. He knows what you're thinking, he knows what you're experiencing. Um so it's important for us to get to that place of uh to start in this healing to just acknowledge, God, I don't understand this, I don't know what's going on. Uh I I had these expectations, and um I I'm I'm sorry if I try to impose my plans, my agendas over yours. Um, but I've come to a place that I just don't understand. Just be honest with God. God is not going to reject you, He's not going to condemn you. It's okay to not feel okay. It's okay to be like, hey, I don't understand, I don't get it. And just have that honest talk with God. That what that's what prayer should look like. Sometimes we think of prayer as this uh speech that we prepare before God. We we can't impress God that way. He is he would be more impressed when we generally come with humility before him, without pretensions, just with an open heart, willing to receive from him. And that leads to the next step. Release the need for control. Not everything will have an immediate um explanation. We need to learn to be okay with not having all the answers all the time. Sometimes that need for control places in us that that that need to find answers, to know things, because the more we know, we feel that the more control we'll have on the situation. But we need to learn to get to that point of just letting God be God and release control. And and it's hard, that's probably the hardest step, but it's real and it's necessary so that we can grow deeper in our relationship with God. The third step is anchor yourself in what you do know. There are things that you know, you know that, like I was sharing earlier, God is good when we look around, all that he has created, the the universe, the uh nature, and and the things that he has done in your life. This is information that when you cling on to it, it helps you and your faith and be like, you know, if if God he's done this before, uh, he can do it again. He he is God and he's still in control of the universe, his character doesn't change. You and I change, our circumstances change, but God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And the fourth step is keep moving forward, uh, don't let confusion paralyze you. Just take the next step, even if it's a small step. Uh don't forget that faith involves obedience. So just keep going forward, keep moving forward, keep showing up to God. Sometimes people go to church and they go through one of these confusing uh seasons, and then they just pull away. In those moments, just draw closer to God, be like, God, I don't get it, I don't understand, but I am here. Just show up. You don't have to pretend, you don't have to try to be who you you aren't, just be there and let Him guide you through those dark times, those dark moments, and you will never regret that. So the goal here, guys, is not to understand everything, it's not, you don't have to. Only thing that you and I need to uh know for certain is who God is, and he'll show you what he wants to show you, he will guide you. Uh, like we've read in Psalm 23, he will guide us through the valley of the death, uh, and and he will show you the way, he will reveal to you the things that he understands you need to know at this given time. And and what he doesn't reveal now, he might reveal later. Some things we just won't know until we are face to face with him when we live that leave this world and and we stand before him. But God is faithful to show you everything that you need to know for the time that you're walking on this earth. So, through this episode, guys, I just want and encourage you to uh keep on walking forward, keep on moving forward with the Lord. And if this has touched your heart, I I also uh would motivate you to share with somebody that might need to hear this message as well, and it's and I know it's gonna bless a lot of people. God, He is still on the move, He's still uh working in your life, like that song uh Waymaker. Even when I don't see it, you're working, God. Even when I don't feel it, you're working, you're always, always working. And and my prayer is that you can believe that, you can embrace that, even when your feelings and emotions don't align with that, you might not feel a fly right now, but God is real and he's there, and he caused his sun to shine over you and and and giving you air to breathe and and your heart beating and all that. He's he's present with you right now. So don't stop trusting in him and the plans that he has for your life, which are always great because God is great. So thank you, my friends, for tuning in to this episode of Walking the Way with Dr. Carlos Quijada. Uh, this is your brother and your friend, Dr. Carlos Quijada. God bless you, and until next time.