In today’s world, the phrase “trust the process” has become ubiquitous. It’s heard in sports, business, personal growth and even among Christians. It suggests that adhering to a structured plan guarantees success. While this mindset may be effective in secular settings, it creates a theological dilemma. According to Scripture, no process is sovereign—only God is. Trusting a process rather than God shifts our faith from the divine to an impersonal system, encouraging reliance on human effort over God’s will. Christians often confuse the two, but trusting the process is not equivalent to trusting in God.
The problem with trusting the process
The concept of trusting the process implies that a set of actions or steps inherently leads to a favourable result. However, the Bible instructs believers to place their trust in God, not in human strategies or systems. Scripture warns against relying on methods or systems as if they were infallible. Verses like Proverbs 3:5,6, Jeremiah 17:7,8, and Isaiah 41:10 make it clear: trust in the Lord. When we trust the process over God, we replace divine wisdom with human logic and effort.1
Jeremiah 17:5 cautions, “Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the LORD.” It is dangerous to put our faith in anything other than God. Human strategies and systems can’t guarantee success and certainly cannot replace God’s sovereignty over all things.2 King David, in Psalm 146:3, echoes this truth: “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.” Our trust must be in God, not in a process or human effort.3
This could be another of Satan’s philosophical attacks on biblical truth.
The biblical model: trust in God, not in a process
Rather than placing faith or trust in an abstract system, the Bible directs us to trust in God Himself. Proverbs 3:5,6 calls believers to, “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.” There is no mention of “trusting the process” here; instead, we are urged to actively depend on God. This is not about following a method but about submitting to God’s will.4
Isaiah 55:8,9 further emphasises this: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God’s wisdom and plans are far beyond human understanding. While human processes may fail, God’s ways are always perfect.5 Trusting in a process suggests control; control over human dealings, human sufferings and problems, human thoughts and human ways. As believers, we are encouraged to recognise that God’s thoughts and ways exceeds the excellence of human will.
The danger of trusting a process over a person
Placing trust in a process can lead to a transactional view of faith—believers may start thinking that if they follow a specific set of actions, they will receive guaranteed results. This reduces faith to a formula rather than a genuine relationship with God. Many fall into the trap of thinking: if I do X, then God will do Y. This mindset turns faith into a mechanism for manipulating outcomes, instead of recognising it as trust in a personal God who acts according to His will, not human expectations.
Job offers a powerful example of true faith in God’s sovereignty. Even amid immense suffering, Job declared, “Though he slays me, yet I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15). Job’s faith was not in a predictable process of suffering and restoration, but in God’s character, regardless of what he faced. This is the heart of biblical faith—trusting God Himself, not a system or sequence of events.
The Spirit of Prophecy also reminds us, “You are selfish, exacting and overbearing. This ought not to be. Your salvation depends on your acting from principle—serving God from principle, not from feeling, not from impulse. God will help you when you feel your need of help and set about the work with resolution, trusting in Him with all your heart.”6 Trust in God is not about self-reliance or following a formula, but about relying on His divine principles for guidance. Failing to abide in God’s principles risks our salvation. Trust the process is a baseless, non-scriptural phrase.
Biblical examples: trusting God over process
Scripture consistently shows that God is not bound by human processes or timelines. When God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations (Genesis 12:1-3), the fulfilment of that promise was far from straightforward. Abraham’s journey was filled with trials and waiting. If he had placed his faith in a predictable process, he would have given up. But instead, Abraham trusted in God’s promise, even when everything seemed uncertain (Genesis 12–22).7
Joseph’s life was another example. Betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused and imprisoned, Joseph faced numerous hardships. Yet, he declared in Genesis 50:20, “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good.” Joseph did not place his trust in the process of suffering and restoration; he trusted in God’s sovereignty to bring about good from evil.8
Even Jesus did not rely on process but fully trusted in the Father’s will. In Luke 22:42, He prayed, “Yet not my will but yours be done.” Jesus’ faith was not in a method but in God’s perfect plan, demonstrating the ultimate model of trust for believers.
Ellen White encourages us to look at nature to learn trust in God: “He (Jesus) desires us to read it in every lily and every spire of grass . . . full of assurance and confirmation of trust in God.”9 Whether lilies or grasses, they trust in God’s care, finding their place regardless of circumstance.
Faith is in God, not a system
Trusting in a process shifts our faith away from God and turns it into a formula, reducing faith to a system of actions and results. The Bible never calls believers to trust in human wisdom, strategy or progress, but to trust in God’s sovereign will. Unlike human processes, God’s ways are perfect, His plans are higher and His timing is flawless. For Christians, the message is clear: it’s not about trusting a process, but trusting in God’s providence.
Paul reassures believers in Romans 8:28: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.” Goodness comes from divine purpose, not from following a set of steps.10 As Ellen White reminds us, the time has come when believers must trust in God alone, not in a formula or system. Salvation depends on a relationship with God, not on a process.
Ultimately, it’s not about trusting an unseen system, but trusting in the unseen hand of God, who works behind the scenes for our good. So, instead of saying “Trust the process”, Christians should say, “Trust in the Lord”, for He is the only One worthy of our faith.
- Bruce K Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 1–15 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004), 280–85.
- Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014), 301–3.
- Walter C Kaiser Jr, Hard Sayings of the Old Testament (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1988), 92–94.
- Ibid., 280–85.
- John N Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 40–66 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), 387–89.
- Ellen G White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1885), 698.
- Gordon J Wenham, Genesis 16–50 (Dallas, TX: Word Biblical Commentary, 1994), 458–62.
- Ibid., 458–62.
- Ellen G White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1900), 19.
- Douglas J Moo, The Letter to the Romans (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996), 529–32.
Toma Naivalu is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Religion, with an emphasis on Systematic Theology, Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies in the Philippines.
