Trusting God to Guide Us through Painful Unknowns

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Trusting God to Guide Us Through Painful Unknowns
When life feels like a dark, uncertain path, Isaiah 42:16 reminds us that we are never walking it alone. In this deeply personal devotional, Jennifer Slattery shares how God restored her marriage and led her and her husband through a season of brokenness they couldn’t fix on their own. Through Scripture and raw testimony, we’re reminded that God will guide you, even when the road ahead is unfamiliar and painful. His promises hold firm—even when we can’t see what’s next.

✨ Highlights:

God lights the way in darkness – Isaiah 42:16 offers hope for those feeling lost or stuck.
Faith in hard times leads to spiritual healing – God doesn’t just show the way, He walks with us.
Healing in marriage is possible – Even toxic patterns can be restored by divine intervention.
We don’t have to have it all figured out – Trusting God through uncertainty brings peace and direction.
God’s promises are personal – He meets us in our pain and leads us forward with grace.

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Have you ever felt blind in a season of life? How has God led you when you couldn’t see the road ahead?
Tag us @lifeaudionetwork and share your story with #GuidedByHisGrace—your journey could be the light someone else needs.

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Full Transcript Below:

Trusting God to Guide Us Through Painful Unknowns

by Jennifer Slattery

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them (Isaiah 42:16, NIV)

About five years into our marriage, my husband and I almost got divorced. Although love, strong and pure, had drawn us together, our mutual dysfunction nearly tore us apart. We didn’t actually want to end things. But neither did we want our toxic patterns to continue. The problem was, we didn’t know how to repair the mess and heal the hurt we created.

One night, while my husband was at work and our daughter asleep upstairs, I sat in our dark, silent living room, feeling so alone. Knowing what Scripture said about divorce, I concluded that the Lord wanted me to remain miserable for the rest of my life. I simply couldn’t imagine my husband’s and my relationship getting better.

Frustrated, I told the Lord, “Fine. I’ll stay, but You’ve got to do this for me, because I’m done.”

Although the prayer was more flippant than genuine, the Lord heard the unspoken cries of my heart—the pain, ache for connection, and flickering hope I’d buried in anger and “offense.” He saw the longing in our souls, the untended wounds and deception fueling our fights, and our ignorance when it came to building a healthy marriage.

We were walking blind, stumbling along a foggy, uneven road marred with potholes, boulders and detours. We needed God’s supernatural vision, His hand to remove the obstacles too heavy for us to maneuver, and His guidance for our long, difficult and uncertain journey.

In short, we needed Him to fulfill His promise recorded in today’s verse. The Lord originally spoke these comforting words, through a prophet, to the ancient Israelites during a dark period in their history. The people had rejected God to turn to idols, chose violence and oppression over integrity and love, and were seeking aid from a pagan nation rather than their ever-faithful Creator. The Lord warned them, for generations, of the judgment to come. But He also promised them forgiveness, transformation, and restoration through His “Faithful Servant”, the Messiah, His Son.

In John 8:12, Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (NIV). He’s the One who illuminates every shadow lurking within our soul and who lovingly lights the path before us.

Intersecting Life and Faith

The Lord knows we’re hopelessly blind. Spiritually ignorant. He also realizes we can’t correct our vision ourselves. And so, He met us in our self-destructing, deceived state to lead us to better. God Almighty remains intimately involved in the lives of His people. While He provided us with an extensive instruction manual through Scripture, He didn’t just drop a written guide on our doorsteps, dust off His hands, and say, “Job done. Now on to the next.” Instead, through Jesus, He moved toward us in the middle of our mess to show us the way out.

Yes, today’s verse refers to salvation and the New Covenant Jesus instituted—a righteousness through faith rather than rule following. That was certainly an unfamiliar path, and a route to God His people didn’t expect. But He doesn’t stop guiding His children once they receive His gift of grace. He continues to lead us through life’s uncertainties. He lights up the path before us, removes barriers that don’t aid our transformation, and fills in the potholes that otherwise might trip us up.

He gives us everything we need to live the thriving, God-honoring life to which He calls us, inviting us to focus not on the uncertainties ahead but rather, our very next, divinely orchestrated step, trusting Him to clear the way before us.

Twenty-five years after that really hard season in my marriage, I can assure you that our God is faithful, and His ways are best. Next month, my husband and I celebrate our thirtieth anniversary, and we’re in a much healthier and happier place, thanks to all Christ has done in us and our relationship. While I don’t know what uncertainties you’re facing, or will encounter tomorrow, I do know this—God will faithfully guide you as well.

And there’s such peace in that. We don’t need to know every detour or fork in the road when we have unhindered access to our Father’s perfect vision through the Holy Spirit within us.