Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.—Proverbs 3:5-6
This verse is pretty foundational to the Christian walk. We are to trust the Lord fully…with all our heart or with everything we have. The word translated “trust” in verse 5 means “to lie helpless, facedown.” It pictures a servant waiting for the master’s command in readiness to obey, or a defeated soldier yielding himself to the conquering general.
At first glance that seems like a tough row to hoe. We are to trust Him no matter what comes our way…through “good” times, “bad” times, “anxious” times and “everyday” times. We are to trust Him in joy, in sorrow, in loneliness, in pain, in suffering and in despairing. No equivocation. No double-mindedness.
The alternative…leaning on your own understanding….though it might seem more “natural”…is much tougher and fraught with trouble because we are then walking not by faith but by sight. More importantly, the Bible warns us against it in many places.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.—Proverbs 14:12
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones.—Proverbs 3:7-8
As finite human beings with fallen natures we not only can’t see ahead into the next moment, but even what we can see is distorted by sin. Beloved…Our God knows all things. (Ps 147:5; Psalm 139; 1 John 3:20) He is our faithful Creator. He is the One who is for us. He is the One who rules and overrules all in our lives for His glory and our good. He is the One who sent His precious Son into this world to die so that in believing we could obtain eternal life.
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?—Romans 8:32
He has also given us His word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. His ways, the Bible tells us are higher than our ways.
"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.—Isaiah 55:8-9
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!—Romans 11:33
I don’t know about you, but I spend way too much time leaning on my own understanding or looking at life and all that is occurring through the lens of my own perspective…my own insight. The only thing this has ever produced in my life is anxiety. Instead, I need to see all through the lens of His word which tells me that as His beloved daughter He works all in my life together for my good and His glory. His ways may be incomprehensible to me, but they are trustworthy. And trusting God brings His peace to my heart.
Think of Joseph.
Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, "Behold, we are your servants."
Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.—Genesis 50:18-21
Or Job:
Then Job answered the LORD and said:
"I know that You can do everything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
You asked, Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?'
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
Listen, please, and let me speak;
You said, I will question you, and you shall answer Me.'
"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
But now my eye sees You.
Therefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes."
And the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the LORD had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold.
Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of days.
Beloved…learn God’s truth. Obey His precepts. As you do this you will not only grow His grace, His favor and the knowledge of His will, but you will also find that He smooths out the rough places and upholds your footsteps in His right paths. When we lean on our own understanding we become wise in our own eyes and miss His will for us. As we obey Him we receive all that He has lovingly planned for us from before the foundation of the world. Trust God. He will make your path straight. He has promised and He will do it.
Thus says the LORD:
"Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.—Jeremiah 9:23-24
But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?"—Romans 9:20
The goodness of God endures continually—Psalm 52:1b
