“You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand” (Jn. 13:7).

Trusting Jesus as Savior is easy when the seas are calm. But what about when the boat is sinking, the storm is raging, and He’s asleep in the stern? What about when the diagnosis comes, the door closes, or the silence stretches longer than your prayers?

Faith in Yeshua is not just intellectual assent, it’s covenantal faithfulness when things don’t make sense, when intellect cannot reconcile faith and circumstance. It’s the kind of trust that Abraham had when he raised the knife over Isaac, believing that God could raise the dead. It’s the kind of trust that defies logic, because it’s rooted not in circumstance but in character.

Job beautifully expressed: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (13:15). 

Jesus never promised clarity. He promised presence. He didn’t say, “You’ll understand everything now.” He said, “Later you will understand.” And in that “later,” we learn that the cross was not defeat, it was victory. That the tomb was not the end, it was the beginning.

In Jewish tradition, chesed (lovingkindness) and emunah (faithfulness) are covenantal traits of God. Trusting Yeshua as Savior means believing that His chesed/lovingkindness endures even when His ways are hidden. The disciples didn’t understand the foot-washing, the betrayal, or the crucifixion, but they learned to trust the One who did.

Consider for yourself, a time when God’s plan didn’t make sense, but later revealed His goodness. Pray on John 13:7 and Job 13:15. What does “trusting beyond reason” look like in your current season? Write a prayer, a meditation or journal entry on surrender, not for answers, but for deeper trust when things do not make sense.

In my own life, I confess that in trying situations I often seek understanding before obedience when my understanding is incomplete. Yet, He is faithful to shepherd me in maturing faith even when the path is dark, when the logic fails. Why? Because He is faithful, He is good, and He is with me. It is when the way is unknown, dark, difficult, and turbulent that we learn to cling to His promises, not our perceptions. 

If you are waiting for perfect understanding to trust Him, it will never be enough. If you are waiting for every doubt to be answered, you will always find one more. If you believe you have matured past stumbling, you will be crushed when you do. May we never lose our dependence on Him, and continually hold His hand this walk. 

The disciples, our Apostles and Teachers, did not understand what Yeshua was doing as they witnessed it, but they learned to trust the One who knew what He was doing; and so should we. 

Maranatha. Shalom.