There are times when we’re confronted by circumstances so dire, so complex that, try as we might, we can’t figure them out. And, let’s be honest here, “figuring them out” means finding a way to get through them safely and successfully to the other side. In our book, yours and mine, “figuring it out” means winning. But we don’t always get to win in this life.

Jane Haining, a Scottish missionary in Hungary, refused to abandon the Jewish girls in her care during World War II. Ordered to return home, she wrote, “If these children need me in days of sunshine, how much more in days of darkness?”

Arrested by the Gestapo in 1944, she was sent to Auschwitz, where she died. Faced with impossible choices and no clear path, she simply trusted Christ. Decades later, she was honoured as Righteous Among the Nations. She didn’t have all the answers—but God did. Her quiet faith endured when nothing else made sense.

What do you do with that? You and I … man, we want to win. We want to beat that cancer diagnosis. We don’t want the bank to foreclose on our mortgage when we’re faced with insurmountable financial pressures. But what happens when winning is no longer an option?

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (NRSV)

Absolutely, do your best to overcome your difficulties. But when it’s completely beyond you, don’t overthink it. If it’s God’s will, then it will happen. If it’s not, God has a better plan. Be at peace knowing that, because … he will make straight your paths.

That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.