Trust God Even When You Don’t Understand - Daily Hope with Rick Warren - November 26, 2025
Discover the true meaning of faith as it requires obedience even when understanding is absent, mirroring biblical examples of trusting God's plan despite seemingly impossible odds. Learn how embracing risk and surrendering your own understanding can lead to unexpected victories, just as Gideon's obedience secured a miraculous win.
Many people ask God to guarantee their success before trying what he’s asked them to do—but that’s not faith. Faith always requires risk.
Faith means obeying even when you don’t understand. For example, forgiveness never seems like a good idea before you do it, but it’s one of the greatest tests of your faith. When someone hurts you, it may not feel right to forgive that person; it may not appear just. But forgiveness is always the right choice, regardless of whether you understand it.
Remember when you were a kid and your parents told you to do something that didn’t make sense to you? Later you looked back with 20/20 hindsight and understood your parents’ perspective.
That’s how it works with God too.
Faith is doing what’s right even when it seems absurd. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding” (HCSB).You never know the whole picture, but God does.
The Bible gives a great example of this in the story of Gideon in Judges 7. Gideon led 300 Israelites to battle 135,000 enemy soldiers. The odds were 450 to 1. God had the soldiers take torches, trumpets, and clay pots—a command I’m sure Gideon thought was ridiculous.
But then God told Gideon to put the clay pots over the torches so the light would be hidden at night. Next he told them to go surround the enemy’s camp. God’s instructions were something like this: When I tell you, blow the trumpets, smash the jars, and let the torchlight blaze out in the darkness. It will look like a vast army is surrounding the camp. The enemy will panic, fall into confusion, and turn their swords against each other.
Gideon obeyed, even though it didn’t make any sense. The Israelites blew their trumpets, broke their pots, and revealed the light from their torches. The enemy soldiers woke up in shock and started fighting each other instead of the Israelites. Because Gideon did what God told him to do—even when he didn’t understand it—the Israelites won the battle.
Sometimes God asks you to do something that seems foolish—like stepping into a difficult situation against overwhelming odds. But when you have faith, you obey him even when you don’t fully understand what he’s asking.
Like Gideon and his soldiers, you can’t live by faith without risk. But God sees the big picture with 20/20 vision. You can trust what he’s asking you to do.
Rick Warren is an innovative pastor, renowned author, and global influencer known for founding Saddleback Church, the Purpose Driven Network, the PEACE Plan, and Hope for Mental Health. He has written several best-selling books, including The Purpose Driven Life, which has sold over 35 million copies in 200 languages. Time magazine named Warren the most influential spiritual leader in America and one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Since stepping down from the lead pastor role at Saddleback in 2022, Warren has continued to inspire people through his Daily Hope Devotional and podcast Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope. His first book in a decade, Created to Dream, was released in April 2023.
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
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