Is God Ordaining My Steps? Learning to Trust the Process
- Pastor George Sawyer
- Jan 25
- 2 min read
Trusting God When It Doesn’t Make Sense
We love clarity. We love answers. We love knowing what’s next. But faith doesn’t usually work that way.
Proverbs 3:5–6 tells us plainly:“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
That verse sounds comforting, until we realize it asks us to let go of the very thing we rely on most: understanding. God never promises to explain every step. He promises to direct them.
Trust begins where our explanations end.
Joseph: Proof That Detours Are Not Delays
Few stories illustrate this better than Joseph’s. If anyone had reason to doubt God’s plan, it was him. Betrayed by his brothers. Sold into slavery. Falsely accused. Forgotten in prison.
From the outside, Joseph’s life looked like a series of mistakes and misfortunes. But from heaven’s perspective, every step was intentional.
What Joseph couldn’t see in the pit or the prison was that God was shaping him for leadership. The delay wasn’t denial, it was development. The setbacks weren’t punishment, they were preparation.
Sometimes the very thing we think is stopping us is the thing God is using to set us up.
Loving the Promise but Resisting the Process
Let’s be honest, we’re great at celebrating promises and terrible at enduring processes.
We want the dream without the discipline. The blessing without the stretching. The platform without the pruning.
But Scripture reminds us that growth happens in seasons we don’t always enjoy. Paul writes in Philippians 4 that he learned how to live content in both lack and abundance. That kind of faith doesn’t come overnight, it’s forged in experience.
When we trust that God is ordaining our steps, even hardship becomes meaningful. The process stops feeling like wasted time and starts becoming sacred ground.
Forgiveness: A Hidden Key to Forward Movement
One of the most powerful moments in Joseph’s story isn’t his promotion, it’s his forgiveness.
Standing face to face with the brothers who betrayed him, Joseph chooses grace. He understands something profound: what they meant for evil, God used for good.
Unforgiveness has a way of anchoring us to the past. It keeps us stuck in places God has already moved us through. Forgiveness, on the other hand, frees our hearts to walk fully into what God has next.
Sometimes the next step God is ordaining isn’t about direction, it’s about release.
So… Is God Ordaining Your Steps?
If you’re walking through uncertainty, disappointment, or delay, hear this clearly: God has not lost track of you. He is not scrambling to fix a mistake. He is not surprised by your season.
Even when the path feels confusing, God is intentional. Even when progress feels slow, God is present. And even when you don’t understand the “why,” you can trust the Who.
Faith isn’t knowing where every step leads, it’s knowing who walks with you.
A Final Encouragement
Wherever you find yourself today, waiting, wondering, or weary, take heart. God is still writing your story. He’s still aligning moments, shaping character, and preparing outcomes you can’t yet see.
So keep walking. Keep trusting. Keep forgiving. Keep believing.
And when you ask, “Is God ordaining my steps?”Rest in this truth: He always has been.
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