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 straight your paths. Proverbs 3: 5-6 ESV

Have you ever trusted someone only to be let down? A co-worker, friend, parent, spouse, or (fill in the blank). It can be one of the most devastating things that can happen to a person. Any time you have trusted someone and that trust was broken, it makes trusting again difficult. Trust is broken by unfaithfulness, broken promises, lies, and again…. (fill in the blank). I believe this could even be one of Satan’s strategies in causing people not to want to trust God. God wants to be a heavenly Father to the fatherless, but someone who has had a father that let them down, might react by saying, “I don’t need a father.” How about the teaching of a friend who sticks closer than a brother, Proverbs 18: 24b ESV? Have you had someone you considered a friend fail you when you needed them the most? The church is referred to as the bride of Christ, but maybe you had a spouse who wasn’t faithful and you might not be interested in anything that compares itself to a marriage. There could be many comparisons of situations that cause you to have difficulty trusting; but to never trust is to never heal, for we were made to interact in trusting relationships. This does not mean you trust everyone, but you must learn to choose wisely those in whom you put your trust. Jesus is one such person to choose, as Savior, friend, and Lord, in whom you can place unreserved trust.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart:
By faith you believe and trust Jesus, and make Him Lord of your life. The heart represents life. When you trust Him with all your heart you are in essence saying, “I’m trusting you with my life.” This trust requires you to take down the barriers of distrust and open yourself to a relationship based on unadulterated hope, faith, and love. It’s a trust believing everything that is taught by Jesus. You believe that He is the only Son of the living God which became flesh and lived with us yet without sin. You believe He came to die and as a result take away the sins of the world….. your world…. your sin. You trust him when He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5b ESV You rest when you remember His words, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and NO ONE WILL SNATCH THEM OUT OF MY HAND.” John 10:28 ESV.

Do not lean on your own understanding:
Trust at times will stretch you by making you vulnerable. If I totally have my mind wrapped around an issue or situation, I have a comfort level that is acceptable to me. However, when I hear the words “trust me”, it is because I might be viewing a situation differently than the person in whom I am choosing to place my trust. It also might be because I’ve trusted before and was hurt or let down. Trust in the Lord means you believe God when He says, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth’s so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9 ESV We must always remember, it was our own understanding that introduced sin into the world. If Adam and Eve had trusted God’s words they would have never eaten the fruit from the tree. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:17 ESV Something might seem so good or right to us, but if God says no….. trust Him.

In all your ways acknowledge him:
God is to be, and should be, involved in every area of a Christian’s life. In him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28 ESV Trusting Him is wanting him to have that place in your life. To acknowledge Him is to make Him known by how you live and how you speak concerning Him. (Luke 12:8)

He will make straight your paths:
I like the KJV translation of this verse which says, “And he shall direct thy paths.” The point is, God leads you in the way that you should go. The fastest way to someone or to a place is a straight or direct path based on the road map given to find a person or place. The Bible can be such a road map, revealing the way to God, and given by God for us to follow. In order to find life, we must trust His words on His map to do so. We are to take up the cross and follow him… Matthew 16:24, Mark 8: 34, Luke 9:23. This is not a literal cross, but a cross which represents sacrifice of the old life for a new life in Christ. We are to do as it teaches in Romans 12:1 … to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship…. As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. 1 Peter 1: 15 ESV These two verses are just two such teachings/directions in God’s road map for our lives. Life is a pilgrimage in living every day on purpose for God.

Application:
You cannot follow someone if you are not going in the same direction. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 ESV Jesus is the way; and if you follow Him, you must trust that he is the only way to God. He is the map / way that leads to God. Trust and believe in the words of Jesus and make His teachings the reason you do everything you do. If you have done this, then the next step is to take one step at a time and follow. People tend to look at the journey and become overwhelmed, but this is not how the Lord wants you to live. Trust Him for today and do not worry about the travels of tomorrow, for that will be another day. Today needs to be the focus in trusting Him. Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Matthew 6: 34 ESV If you have an area in which you feel you do not trust Him, then find in God’s word a promise concerning that issue, memorize it and use it to battle your lack of trust in that area. Live on purpose for God.

Because of His Grace ~ Pastor David