Growing in His Word

Promises to Hold Onto When the Road Is Hard

Some stretches of the road are just plain hard. We get tired. Our hearts hurt. We would love to know what is around the next bend—or how long it is going to take to get there.

And right there, in the middle of all that, we need to remember who is walking with us. Our good, loving, faithful God. The One who knows every detail of what we are facing and invites us to bring it all to Him.

We can be honest with Him about the hard things. The tears, the questions, the weariness. As we open His Word, we get to know His heart more clearly and discover again how much we can trust Him.

Let’s linger over a few of His promises. Read them slowly. Think about what they show us about His goodness, His love, and His faithfulness. May they give us courage to take the next step with Him.

1. God will not abandon you.

Hebrews 13:5–6 — NASB 1995
⁵ Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” ⁶ so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”

There is such comfort in these words: God Himself has promised to stay with His people. The writer brings that promise into the ordinary concerns of life—what we have, what we need, and what we are afraid of. We have a faithful Helper we can count on.

In the waiting room, in the quiet house, in the middle of a day that feels like too much, we can turn our thoughts toward Him. He knows we are there. He knows what hurts. We can tell Him, “Lord, help me remember that You are here with me.” His presence gives us somewhere to rest our hearts.

Hold onto this: Our faithful God is with us, even here.

2. You can come to Jesus for mercy and help.

Hebrews 4:14–16 — NASB 1995
¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Look at the heart of Jesus in this passage. He understands our weakness, and He welcomes us to come close. Mercy and grace are waiting for us at His throne. What a kind invitation from the One who knows us so well.

So let’s come. With the tears still on our faces and the things we haven’t figured out. We can tell Him where we are tired and ask for the help we need today. His compassion gives us confidence to come again tomorrow, too.

Hold onto this: Jesus welcomes us with mercy and grace.

3. The Spirit helps when you cannot find words.

Romans 8:26–27 — NASB 1995
²⁶ In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; ²⁷ and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Have you ever sat down to pray and hardly known where to begin? There is so much on your heart, and somehow the words just won’t come. Look at the loving provision God has made for that very weakness: His Spirit helps us and intercedes for us according to His will.

We can rest in that care. Our Father knows our hearts, and the Spirit is at work even when all we can manage is, “Lord, please help.” God has made a way for us to come to Him in our need. How faithfully He cares for His children.

Hold onto this: God’s loving care reaches into the places we cannot put into words.

4. God is at work, even here.

Romans 8:28–29 — NASB 1995
²⁸ And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

There is a steady hope here for those who belong to Christ: our good God is at work in our lives. Verse 29 helps us see where His purpose is taking us. He is making us more like His Son. His love is shaping us for something that will last.

Some things we walk through are heartbreaking. We can grieve them honestly and still entrust ourselves to the One who sees the whole road. We may not be able to trace what He is doing today, but we can keep getting to know the God who is doing it. His goodness gives us reason to trust Him with what we cannot yet understand.

Hold onto this: Our good and faithful God is still at work.

5. Nothing can separate you from Christ’s love.

Romans 8:35–39 — NASB 1995
³⁵ Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let this one settle into your heart for a minute. Paul looks straight at trouble, distress, danger, and even death, and tells us that none of it can separate us from God’s love in Christ. That is a love strong enough to hold us through the hardest things we face.

When the road gets rough, it can be easy to start wondering about God’s heart toward us. Come back here. Read these verses again. His love for His people holds steady through every change in their circumstances. We can lean the full weight of our hurting hearts on that love.

Hold onto this: Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

6. God will finish His work in you.

1 Peter 5:6–10 — NASB 1995
⁶ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷ casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. ⁸ Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹ But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. ¹⁰ After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

Peter tells suffering believers to put their anxieties into God’s hands for a wonderfully personal reason: He cares for them. Then he turns their eyes toward the God of all grace, who has called them to His eternal glory in Christ. See the tenderness and the faithfulness of our God together here. He cares about what weighs on us today, and He holds our future.

We would love to have a date on the calendar when everything will feel easier. Peter gives us Someone to trust while we wait. The God who has called us to Himself will strengthen and establish us. Let’s keep placing our cares in His hands, one by one, as often as we need to.

Hold onto this: The God who cares for us today is faithful with our future.

7. There is a future without death or tears.

Revelation 21:1–5 — NASB 1995
¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, ⁴ and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” ⁵ And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

What a picture of God’s goodness. He will dwell with His people, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Think about the tenderness in that promise. The God who knows every sorrow will bring His people into a home where death and mourning and pain are gone.

This is the future He has promised, and His words are faithful and true. We still have hard days to walk through here, but we have a sure hope ahead of us. Let that hope lift your eyes for a moment today. Our loving God will make all things new.

Hold onto this: Our faithful God has promised a future where sorrow is over.

For today

Choose one of these passages to carry with you today. Read the whole chapter when you can, and spend a little time thinking about what you see of God there. What does this promise show you about His goodness? His love? His faithfulness?

You might begin here: Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Let that truth come with you into whatever the day holds. Bring it back to mind when you need to take a breath and steady your heart.

And let someone walk beside you. Tell a trusted person what you are carrying. Pray together. Sometimes a reminder of God’s faithfulness comes through someone who sits with us, listens, and helps us keep our eyes on Him.

A prayer for the hard road

Father, thank You for being good and loving and faithful, even when the road is hard. Help us know Your heart more clearly as we spend time in Your Word. Remind us that You are near. Give us grace for today, strength for the next step, and hope as we look toward all You have promised. Teach us to rest our hearts in Your love. In Jesus’ name, amen.