Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
While we naturally apply our senses to what is going on, we are encouraged in Proverbs 3:5-6 to trust in the Lord with all of our heart.
We are not called to trust the Lord with a small part and place the remaining portion of our trust onto someone else who, though well-intentioned, might have limited concern or knowledge about that which is insurmountable in our estimations.
But God knows.
He was first.
He is first.
He goes first.
He sees what is up ahead that we cannot, already there with full knowledge of our way. There is not one step we must take that He is not aware of or does not understand.
When it seems easiest and most sensible to place trust in our own thinking about what is happening, we must instead place that trust in God’s ability to handle the unnerving situation, and into reliance on Him completely concerning it.
Otherwise we become ineffective in service. We become ineffective because we will not serve someone we do not and will not trust. We will not admire them, honor them, or show them any respect or regard for their ability to care.
This is why we will share our deepest needs only with people who know the depths of our souls. It takes time and effort to get to know people, to invest in who they are – the reason why most people have only a small number of very close, trusted friends and advisers.
God Can’t… Wanna Bet?
One of the things I believe are both funny and sad is to hear people say words about their own toughness being so immense that not even God could change them or stop them from doing whatever they please.
My response is “Wanna bet?” I’ve never asked that out loud to anyone who said God could affect nothing about them, but I’ve thought it every time I’ve heard someone say those types of words.
The only reason anyone says God cannot do anything about their actions is because deep down they know He can, and they are disappointed in Him about something He did not change, but wish He had. Their words only serve to reveal broken trust in their Creator, not a truth about God. The truth is – we all have such broken trust in our hearts.
Tough to admit, but we do.
God is faithful to keep His word. And He wants to and does act on our faith. There are just times we do not agree with what He does or how He solves our problems or fills our needs.
But the good thing is that God sees our lack of trust and why. He knows all about it, continuing to work on our behalf with enduring patience as He teaches us that He is always trustworthy. And He solves the problems of doubt we grip by telling us to trust Him with all of our hearts – with everything we have, no holding back.
Not our senses. Not our memories. Not anyone who seems to have it all, or know it all, but Him – the one who is able to wipe away the mess we cannot fix.
A way for us to get to where we lean on Him and not our own limited methods of dealing what we do not understand is to just begin, even in the smallest way, to acknowledge God’s willingness. When we start to
- turn away from whatever attempts to disturb our faith in Him,
- loosen the grip we have on what makes no sense and is destructive to dwell on,
- adjust our place of reliance with a different thought,
a change occurs to our lack of trust and we learn:
“God wants to handle this for me.”
“God sees this troubles me, and He wants to care about it and work it out on my behalf.”
These are simple but powerful words, and so, because they are truth. Saying them to ourselves and out loud begins to turn us away from understanding that leans on doubt and instability of circumstances. We can then start to depend on a solid foundation that does not shift around and trip us up. We can then start to recognize the source of our getting tripped up which comes from our destructive enemy who relies on deception, confusion, and our limited knowledge to convince us that lies are truth. But God’s concern that we walk confident in His full view of what is going on comes from His direction to us in 1 Peter 5:8 where we read:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
The enemy wants nothing more than to see us discouraged, lacking trust in the God who knows and loves us, and who most of all, wants us to truly live. We were designed by and for God, to live free and whole. And since we live in an imperfect world where sin exists as a result of free will, we are called to help others know where they can find freedom from the lies of the enemy that only destroy and devour.
Release Others and Yourself
When we trust God, we release others and ourselves from having to understand what we cannot explain, and also from having to do something about what only God wants to do Himself. He might involve others, but does not always. We need to ask Him what He would have us do and how He would have us respond to our circumstances even if it means going through something alone. This is where we are most likely to be the witness for Christ we want to be, and that God intends us to be as well, and the difference between some important things to us:
- This is the difference between trusting in a limited view – in a snapshot of information – and trusting in the one who is before all things and literally understands everything before it hits our path, the one in whom everything holds together and would otherwise fall apart. Knowing this should be a huge relief to us. It means we recognize we are not God and do not have to be.
- It is the difference between existing in stress and opening ourselves up to joy, a peace that passes our understanding, and gratitude no matter what.
- It is the difference between living in a continual sense of questioning where the control is, and a continual sense of God’s hand in all circumstances, none of which are hidden from His sight or knowledge.
When you are faced with something even beyond perplexing, ask God to help you turn to Him in trust that He sees what you cannot – including a solution. One thing most important to keep in mind when something confusing happens to us is we must hold on to, and remember to lean on, the one who has our best interest in mind.
He sees every detail involved in what we cannot make sense of, and every response or reaction running through our minds of how we would like to work something out.
And so, we most certainly must live on this:
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17
God wants our understanding to be that, no matter if we seem to have any other recourse, He is in complete control and never lets go of us – to know how and why He always goes first.
