Does God Really Care?

3 Min Read

At the depths of despair or in the extremes of anxiety, believers often wonder—even if only in their own hearts—whether God truly cares about them. If that’s you, I have good news.

A Common Question

First, you are not alone. Believers have asked this question throughout history. The prophet Habakkuk looked at the state of God’s people—trampled and oppressed by the unrighteous—and cried out,

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear? (Hab. 1:2; see also 1:3, 13).

The psalmists often pleaded with God to “rouse” Himself, questioning His care when anguish seemed to go unanswered (Ps. 35:23; 44:23). Though they knew that God never sleeps (Ps. 121:4), His perceived inaction amid their suffering made them wonder if He truly cared.

This struggle isn’t confined to the Old Testament. In a moment of desperation, the disciples cried out to Jesus, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38, emphasis added). Even in the mundane, believers wrestle with this question. Martha, overwhelmed by her work, questioned whether Jesus cared that she was left to serve alone (Luke 10:40). Across time and circumstances, when God doesn’t intervene in our suffering as quickly as we hope (or prevent that suffering in the first place), believers of all ages have questioned His care.

A Spectacular Answer

Second, God doesn’t leave you alone to wonder whether He cares. He has revealed His care for you in the most profound way imaginable: the sending of His beloved Son. John tells us as much when he writes: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). This means that Christ fully understands the frustration, pain, and fear that goes into living in a sin-sick world and is able to sympathize with you (Heb. 4:15).

Believers have asked this question throughout history.

Even more, God’s care is made present through the activity of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus promised the Spirit, He described Him as “another Helper” who would never leave us (John 14:16). Unlike human friends, who may grow weary or distracted, the Holy Spirit remains with you always. He never takes a break, never slinks away, and never abandons you. This is the outworking of God’s fundamental covenant promise to you: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deut. 31:8; Heb. 13:5). This is true even when your emotions tell you that you are alone, forsaken, and outside the purview of God’s care.

Suffering Points to God’s Care

Finally, you must realize that God’s care doesn’t mean that you will avoid suffering and frustration. Rather, His care means that you will endure it and even grow through it. This may seem counterintuitive. Yet God tells us that suffering, far from destroying us, produces steadfastness, character, and hope (Rom. 5:3–5).

Some suffering comes as loving discipline from our Father, intended for our good (Heb. 12:7–11), which means our suffering—even when it is disciplinary in nature—is not a sign of God’s abandonment but of His care.

Other suffering allows us to share in Christ’s life. Paul boldly declares that we are “heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:17). Even Christ Himself learned obedience through suffering (Heb. 5:8). If we are to become like Him, we must learn at the same hand. Far from being a burden, this is a gift—the privilege of sharing in the experiences of our Savior.

Conclusion

When you are tempted to doubt whether God cares, look to the cross. There, God’s love is displayed in full. He would not—in fact, could not—abandon His people after paying so high a cost. And He would not pay so high a cost if He didn’t dearly care about His people—about you—in the first place. Your suffering is not necessarily a sign that God has withdrawn His favor; rather, it may be evidence of His ongoing work in you.

Take heart. When doubts come and your faith feels frail, He will not let you go. One day, when you look back on this trial from a place of peace, you will see that it was not the strength of your grip on the cross that sustained you, but the strength of His nail-scarred hands carrying you, keeping you, strengthening you, never leaving nor forsaking you.