What the Bible Says About Faith In Hard Times
The short answer
When people search for Bible verses about faith in hard times, they often want reassurance that trusting God will make the difficulty lift. But the Bible's own stories of faith tell a more honest story: faith and hardship usually live side by side, sometimes for years.
Genesis 15 is a striking example. Abraham hears God's promise of countless descendants, and the text says, "He believed in Yahweh," who "reckoned it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6). It is one of the most celebrated verses about faith in all of Scripture. Yet just two verses later, the same Abraham asks, "How will I know that I will inherit it?" (Genesis 15:8). Believing did not end his questions. The promise was still delayed, his circumstances were still unchanged, and he still wanted a sign.
That pattern repeats across the Bible. The psalmists trust God and cry out "How long?" in the same breath. Job holds on to God while arguing with him. A father in the Gospels prays, "I believe. Help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). In each case, faith in hard times is not the absence of doubt or the end of waiting. It is the decision to keep addressing God—with questions, complaints, and requests for reassurance—rather than walking away.
This matters for anyone in a hard season now. If your faith feels shakier than it used to, or your prayers seem unanswered, the biblical writers would not treat that as evidence your faith has failed. They would recognize it as the ordinary shape trust takes when the promise hasn't arrived yet. Abraham's story suggests that God receives honest questions as part of belief, not as its opposite—which is why even his request for another sign is met not with rebuke, but with a covenant.
What scholars say
John Goldingay looks closely at what happens after Abraham's great moment of belief in Genesis 15, noting that the breakthrough doesn't make faith's questions simple—Abraham is soon asking for another sign. John Pavlovitz describes a similar dynamic in modern life: a crisis of faith need not mean abandoning it, but can be a relearning that sees everything with new eyes.
“In the lives of believers there are sometimes great turning points, moments when we make a leap forward in insight and commitment. You can think that things are never going to be the same, and you may be right. But you may find that this leap forward does not solve all your problems. It seems not to have done so for Abraham. It does not make him someone for whom questions about faith are now simple. Although God has given him a kind of sign, concerning the promise about offspring, now he is implicitly asking for another sign.”
“When deconstruction happens, many people simply abandon faith altogether, seeing it as some all-or-nothing proposition, believing that they need to completely sign off on a rigid list of doctrinal positions to be included. For me, deconstruction has been a relearning, seeing it all with new eyes. It’s been a “born again” experience that has excavated God and helped me shed those things which are no longer helpful. The options are not either embracing the totality of the organized religion of your childhood or running into the arms of apostasy. Not surprisingly, that myth usually comes from organized religion; clearly defined, rigid systems are far easier to establish and maintain than the muddy, far more ambiguous process of sharing life together.”
What it means for you
If you're in a season where faith feels harder than it once did, Abraham's story gives you permission to stay in the conversation with God rather than pretend everything is settled. You can pray honestly—asking "how long?" or "how will I know?"—without treating those questions as disloyalty. Hard times often force us to let go of a version of faith that promised quick answers; what can grow in its place is something sturdier, built on waiting and honesty rather than certainty.
Practically, that might mean praying the questions you actually have, rereading passages like Genesis 15 or the psalms of lament, and refusing the false choice between having it all figured out and giving up entirely.
In context
Genesis 15 comes after Abraham has left his homeland on nothing but God's word and rescued his nephew Lot from raiding kings. In a night vision, God renews the promise of offspring and points Abraham to the stars. Verse 6 records his belief; verse 8 records his request for assurance about the land. God answers with a solemn covenant ceremony—and, notably, with the news that the promise will take generations to arrive. The chapter holds landmark faith and long delay together, which is exactly why it speaks to faith in hard times.