Discipleship Class 2 · By Prophet of Grace PAULYB

One of the deepest questions every believer eventually faces is this: “Can I really trust God?” It is easy to say we trust Him when life feels good, prayers seem answered, and everything around us feels peaceful. But the real question usually comes during pain, disappointment, confusion, loss, or suffering. Can God still be trusted there?

Many believers secretly struggle with this question. Some people have been hurt by parents, leaders, churches, or relationships that were supposed to be safe. Others have walked through abuse, rejection, betrayal, trauma, or deep disappointment. Because of these experiences, many people project the face of unsafe people onto God. They begin to imagine that God is distant, unpredictable, angry, or impossible to please.

This is why learning to trust God is one of the most important parts of discipleship. Psalm 34:8 says: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him.”

Trust grows when we begin to discover the goodness of God. If we do not believe God is truly good, we will never fully trust Him. We may obey Him out of fear. We may perform religious duties. We may try to look spiritual. But deep trust only grows when we begin to see the true heart of the Father revealed in Jesus.

Jesus said in John 14:9: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” Jesus is the perfect picture of what God is like. Jesus healed the broken, forgave sinners, touched lepers, welcomed outcasts, protected the ashamed, and moved toward hurting people with compassion. Jesus did not reveal a harsh God. He revealed a Father filled with love.

Hebrews 1:3 says Jesus is: “The brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.” That means Jesus perfectly reveals the nature and character of God. This matters because many people were taught to fear God instead of trust Him. They were taught that God might turn against them if they failed too much. Some were taught that God’s mood changes depending on human performance. Others grew up feeling like they never knew where they stood with God.

But James 1:17 says: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” There is no darkness in the Father. He is not good one moment and cruel the next. He does not shift between love and rejection. God is consistently good because goodness is His nature.

Still, one of the biggest struggles people face is the problem of evil. People ask, “If God is good, why is there so much suffering?” This is an honest question. When we see abuse, sickness, violence, trafficking, war, betrayal, death, and deep pain in the world, our hearts naturally cry out for answers.

There is no small intellectual answer that removes the pain of evil. Evil is real. Darkness is real. Human suffering is real. Scripture never asks us to pretend otherwise.

Isaiah 5:20 warns us not to call evil good and good evil. Jesus Himself revealed that destruction does not come from the Father’s heart. In John 10:10 Jesus said: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Jesus clearly separates His work from the work of destruction. The enemy steals, kills, and destroys. Jesus brings life.

This means we do not blame God for evil. We do not say abuse is God’s goodness. We do not call darkness light. Instead, we learn to trust that God is with us in the middle of suffering and that His heart remains good even when life feels painful and confusing.

Psalm 23 gives us a powerful picture of this reality. David writes: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me.” David does not deny the valley exists. He does not pretend pain is not real. But he also does not believe the valley means God abandoned him. Instead, he says, “You are with me.”

The valley is not proof God left you. Sometimes the valley becomes the place where you discover He was carrying you all along. This is why trust matters so deeply. If our trust in God depends on having every “why” question answered, we will constantly struggle. The human mind cannot fully explain every mystery of suffering and evil. Instead of becoming trapped in endless “why” questions, we learn to ask a different question: “Father, what now?”

What now, in this pain? What now, in this confusion? What now, in this loss? What now, in this fear? This keeps us connected to Jesus in the present moment instead of lost in fear and imagination.

Matthew 6:34 says: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.” Trust happens in the present moment. God meets us now.

One of the greatest revelations of the gospel is that Jesus entered directly into human suffering. John 1:14 says: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God did not stay distant from human pain. Jesus entered our brokenness fully. He entered our grief, fear, shame, rejection, loneliness, and suffering.

Hebrews 4:15 says: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses.” Jesus understands human pain from the inside because He became fully human. On the cross, Jesus cried out: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” — Matthew 27:46

Many people interpret this moment as if the Father abandoned Jesus. But Jesus was quoting Psalm 22, and later in that same Psalm it says: “For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him.” — Psalm 22:24

The Father did not abandon the Son. Instead, Jesus entered into the deepest human experience of alienation and darkness while still trusting the Father completely. 2 Corinthians 5:19 says: “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” The Father was not absent from the cross. God was in Christ, bringing humanity home.

This means there is no place of pain where Jesus has not already gone before us. There is no darkness so deep that Jesus cannot meet us there. Romans 8:38-39 says: “Neither death nor life… nor things present nor things to come… shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing can separate us from His love.

We may feel separated emotionally, but feeling separated is not the same thing as truly being separated. Our emotions matter, but our emotions are not always telling us the truth.

There are moments when people feel abandoned, rejected, or alone. But Jesus said in Matthew 28:20: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Ephesians 1:6 says we are accepted in the Beloved. Colossians 1:27 says: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This is why discipleship involves learning to distinguish between our emotions and the deeper truth of Christ within us. Emotions are real, but they are often shaped by trauma, fear, rejection, disappointment, wrong beliefs, or painful experiences.

James 5:16 says: “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” Healing begins when hidden things come into the light. Many believers bury fear, anger, disappointment, and shame because they think honesty is weakness. But healing grows in safe relationships where we can tell the truth about what is happening inside us.

Peter is a powerful example of this. Peter loved Jesus deeply, yet fear still controlled him. He boldly declared that he would never leave Jesus, but later denied Him three times. Jesus already knew Peter would fail, but Jesus did not reject him.

After the resurrection, Jesus met Peter on the beach and restored him. In John 21:17 Jesus told Peter: “Feed My sheep.” Peter’s failure was not the end of his story. Jesus restored him through love. This shows us something important: Jesus does not shame people into transformation. He restores people through relationship and love.

This is why Christian community matters so much. We need safe people who can remind us of God’s goodness when our emotions feel overwhelming. Hebrews 10:24-25 says: “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” We were never meant to walk alone. We need brothers and sisters who can remind us of truth when fear, shame, or disappointment begin to cloud our vision.

The Christian life is not about trying to become like Jesus through human effort. It is about Christ expressing His life through us. Galatians 2:20 says: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Christ is not merely an example outside of us. Christ lives within us. Colossians 3:4 says: “When Christ who is our life appears…”

Christ is our life. This changes prayer completely. We stop praying as if Jesus is far away. Instead of saying, “Jesus, please come here,” we begin to recognize that He is already present.

John 14:20 says: “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” Jesus is in the Father. We are in Jesus. Jesus is in us. This is union.

Christianity is not about climbing our way toward God. It is about awakening to the reality that God has already come near in Christ. Acts 17:28 says: “In Him we live and move and have our being.” God is present in every part of life. There is no “just human” moment disconnected from Him. Our work, relationships, emotions, family life, and daily choices all become places where the life of Christ is expressed.

Trust grows slowly. Growth is often painful and gradual. The Holy Spirit patiently teaches us how to live from the inside out instead of performing outward religion. Jesus promised in John 16:13: “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.” The Holy Spirit gently uncovers fear, shame, pain, false beliefs, and hidden wounds so that healing and freedom can come.

The goal of discipleship is not perfection through pressure. The goal is deeper communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As we grow, we slowly learn that trust is not imaginary. Trust is lived moment by moment. Trust looks like honesty. Trust looks like surrender.

Trust looks like asking for help. Trust looks like receiving love. Trust looks like choosing peace instead of control. Proverbs 3:5-6 says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” We do not trust because we understand everything. We trust because we know the One who is with us. And the One who is with us is good.

Reflection Questions

Where have I struggled to trust God? Have painful experiences shaped the way I see the Father? What emotions have I buried instead of bringing into the light? How does Jesus reveal the goodness of God to me? What changes when I realize Christ lives in me? Where do I need to ask, “Father, what now?” instead of staying trapped in “why?” Who are safe people God may be inviting me to walk with honestly?

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You that You are trustworthy. Thank You for revealing Yourself through Jesus. Heal every place in my heart that learned fear instead of trust. Heal every false picture of who You are. Teach me to trust Your goodness even when life feels difficult. Thank You that Jesus entered human suffering and that I am never alone in my pain.

Teach me to live from Christ in me instead of fear around me. Help me bring hidden emotions into the light so healing can come. Surround me with safe people who will walk with me in love and truth. Holy Spirit, continue teaching me how to trust the Father one moment at a time. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Key Scriptures for This Lesson

Psalm 34:8 · John 14:9 · Hebrews 1:3 · James 1:17 · John 10:10 · Psalm 23:4 · Matthew 6:34 · John 1:14 · Hebrews 4:15 · Matthew 27:46 · Psalm 22:24 · 2 Corinthians 5:19 · Romans 8:38-39 · Matthew 28:20 · Ephesians 1:6 · Colossians 1:27 · James 5:16 · John 21:17 · Hebrews 10:24-25 · Galatians 2:20 · Colossians 3:4 · John 14:20 · Acts 17:28 · John 16:13 · Proverbs 3:5-6

If you want to learn to hear the Father’s voice for yourself and walk in trust like this, that is why I wrote GOD’S VOICE. It will help you recognize His voice and live from Christ in you: Get GOD’S VOICE (book + audio) here.

If you want a family to grow in this with, come into the Inner Circle. It is where we walk this discipleship out together, with safe people who remind you of truth when your emotions are loud: Go deeper in the Inner Circle.