5 Verses to Turn To When Life Isn’t Going as Planned

There are some things in life that are just the worst.

Car trouble is one of them.

There is something particularly frustrating about handing your car over to a mechanic, hoping they will find the problem, fix the problem, and hand you back a vehicle that you can confidently drive without wondering if it is going to leave you stranded on the side of the road.

Unfortunately, that was not my experience.

After three days in the shop, the technicians couldn’t find anything blatantly wrong with my car. They had looked at it, checked things, run tests, and tried to figure out why it seemed to be stalling while I was driving. But there was no obvious answer. No clear solution. No little part they could replace and send me happily on my way.

Was I thankful that nothing major seemed to be wrong with my car?

Yes.

Was I incredibly frustrated that my car was still seemingly broken, with no apparent explanation or solution?

YES.

And sometimes those two things can exist at the exact same time.

I went to pick up my car knowing that I was getting back a vehicle that still had a question mark hanging over it. In the middle of an already heavy season, it felt like one more thing to figure out. One more problem to solve. One more responsibility to carry.

And honestly, I shed some tears.

Penny noticed.

She asked why I was upset, and I explained that it was hard not knowing what was wrong with the car or what we were supposed to do next. There wasn’t a neat solution to take home with us. There was just uncertainty.

So we got in the car.

We thanked the people who had spent three days trying to find an answer for us, and we drove home.

As I pulled into the garage, I heard Penny’s sweet little voice from the back seat.

“Aren’t you so thankful?”

I almost laughed.

Not a cute, spiritual, yes, sweet child, let us count our blessings kind of laugh.

More of a Are you serious right now? Thankful?! kind of laugh.

“Thankful?” I repeated.

Without hesitation, Penny began listing the reasons.

“The people who tried to fix the car were so nice. And they even gave us candy. And we made it all the way home without the car breaking.”

The reminder I didn’t know I needed.

Because while I had been looking at everything that was still wrong, Penny was looking at everything that was still good.

She noticed the kind people who had tried to help us. She noticed the strawberry candy they had given her while we waited in the repair shop lobby. She noticed that we had gotten into the car, driven home, and pulled safely into our garage.

None of those things fixed the car.

The problem was still there.

The uncertainty was still there.

But so was the goodness.

And somehow, my seven-year-old reminded me that I don’t have to wait for everything to be fixed before I can be thankful.

I think that’s one of the hardest things about gratitude.

It’s easy to praise God when the circumstances are good.

It’s easy to thank Him when the sun is shining, the kids are happy, the bills are paid, everyone is healthy, the plans are working, and life feels like it’s falling beautifully into place.

It’s easy to look around on a warm summer day and say, “God, thank You for this.”

But what does our heart posture look like in the middle of the storm?

Can we still find reasons to say thank You when the answer hasn’t come?

Can we be grateful when the situation is uncertain?

Can we notice the strawberry candy even when the car is still broken?

Being thankful doesn’t mean pretending that hard things aren’t hard. It doesn’t mean we have to manufacture happiness or convince ourselves that everything is fine when it isn’t.

We can be frustrated and thankful.

We can cry and still praise God.

We can admit that something is hard while also looking for the evidence of God’s goodness tucked inside the hard.

Sometimes gratitude doesn’t look like a grand declaration of faith. Sometimes it looks like noticing the person who was kind to you. Or recognizing that you made it safely home. Or accepting the piece of strawberry candy handed to you by a seven-year-old who somehow sees the world with more wonder than you did that day.

And sometimes we need God’s Word to remind us where to turn our hearts when life isn’t going according to plan.

5 Verses to Turn To When Life Isn’t Going as Planned

1 Thessalonians 5:18

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Not give thanks when everything works out.

Not give thanks when you understand what God is doing.

Give thanks in all circumstances. We can bring our disappointment, frustration, uncertainty, and unanswered questions to God while still looking for reasons to praise Him.

Psalm 34:1

“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

At all times.

On the good days. On the frustrating days. On the days when the answer comes and the days when it doesn’t. Praise isn’t dependent on our circumstances; it’s a choice to remember who God is in the middle of them.

Philippians 4:6–7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

I love that thanksgiving is tucked right into this instruction to pray.

We don’t have to choose between asking God for help and thanking Him. We can do both. We can say, “God, I don’t know what to do with this,” while also saying, “Thank You for being with me in it.”