"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)
We've all heard these verses. We've all seen them neatly inscribed on various decorative items. They are some of the most popular words in the Bible. But have we taken the time to meditate and think deeply upon them? This passage is much more than an inspirational quote. It is a deep and practical treatment of trusting God. I can see six sections in these two verses and it is my intention to break them down in this post. I hope I can be helpful.
The command to trust
"Trust"
The first word in this passage carries with it an imperative and intentional tone. Scripture does not say, "Consider trusting in the Lord." It simply says, "Trust." This tells me that trust is, first and foremost, a mental exercise. It doesn't just happen. Otherwise, there would be no need for us to be instructed to do it. Trusting in the Lord is something we must decide to do.
This also tells me there are times we do not feel like trusting in the Lord. Once again, if this were not the case, there would be no need for us to be instructed in this way. This means we are going to have to make the conscious, intentional decision to trust in spite of our feelings.
Some of us are struggling through our faith, waiting for our trust in God to just happen. What this verse tells us to do is to stop waiting around and make the decision to trust Him.
The object of our trust
"in the Lord"
The word "in" may only be two letters, but it makes a world of difference here. If it were absent, we would have a statement that reads, "Trust the Lord." That statement reads a lot different. It sounds external. It gives the sense of trusting what God says and does. Of course, this is a good thing. It is not, however, the best thing. This trust in God's external activity is really a consequence of trusting His internal nature.
Trusting "in" the Lord is more than trusting what He does and says. It is trusting who He is. Many people are living on a surface level trust in God. Scripture calls us deeper. Consider what He does. Bank on what He says. Know who He is.
The heart in our trust
"With all your heart"
The heart is a powerful vehicle, but a terrible driver. Many have used their hearts to accomplish great things. Yet, many others have been driven by their hearts off a cliff. This is why Scripture tells us the heart is deceitful (Jer. 17:9). It is also why Proverbs gives us another small, but crucial, word - "with."
As we already noted, trust is an intentional exercise of the mind and will. I decide to trust in the Lord. Once my mind knows where it is going, then it can instruct my heart on where to direct its energy. Trusting with all my heart means I am telling my heart what to do, not the other way around. It is comparable to building with a hammer. In the hands of a skilled craftsman, the hammer is a powerful tool of construction. In the hands of someone who swings the hammer around aimlessly, it is a devastating tool of destruction.
The heart is reckless. It needs to be harnessed like a tool, not released to run wild. And when it is used properly, it is a powerful tool, indeed.
The redirecting of our trust
"and do not lean on your own understanding."
We can all be guilty of trusting God too little and ourselves too much. To trust God fully, we have to be willing to trust Him even beyond our own understanding. We have to redirect trust from ourselves to God.
God's understanding is infinitely greater than ours. On a universal scale, none can compare. Even if we were to unlock all the secrets of our world, there are millions more we've never touched. God knows them all.
This is also true on a smaller, more personal scale. You may know yourself really well, but God created you. When you are wondering why you have a headache, God knows every neuron that is firing to produce that sensation. When you are wondering why you are depressed, God knows every spiritual and emotional cause, as well as every imbalanced chemical that is at play in your heartache. If we believe this, it is common sense that we would trust God's understanding of things over our own.
But, as a quick caveat, notice the wording. Do not lean on your own understanding. This is not a call for willful ignorance. We must always be seeking a greater understanding of the truth in all things. Our understanding, much like the heart, is a tool to be used. But it is not the driver. Only God sits in that seat.
The manifestation of our trust
"In all your ways acknowledge him"
If you have the things we have talked about in place, this part should be automatic. If we truly trust in the Lord and believe in Him, our lives should reflect that. This is what it means to "acknowledge him" in all our ways.
I am settled on my beliefs concerning gravity. As a result, I live in light of it without even having to think about it. When I walk down a flight of stairs, it is automatic muscle memory to allow one foot to fall to the next step. I don't have to pre-calculate anything. That's how dominant my belief in gravity is.
It should be the same with our trust in the Lord. Every decision and move we make ought to acknowledge Him by manifesting our trust in Him.
The result of our trust
"and he will make straight your paths."
There is a promise at the end of these verses. God will give you straight paths. Some have misinterpreted this to mean that everything will be easy and others have said that everything will work out in an earthly sense. However, this verse says nothing about the difficulty of the path. It speaks directionally. We are told the paths will be made straight.
This means the way forward, though not always easy, will always be clear. God has given us a roadmap in His Word. Within it, there is instruction for everything we need. He has already laid out the plan. He has already given us the way. All there is for us to do is to trust Him and follow it.
The world is full of confusion and it is getting more confused by the minute. Nobody seems to know the difference between up and down. People are more unsure about right and wrong than they have been in a long time. In a postmodern, individualistic society, where God has been left out of the dialogue, there is no source of morality. So, everyone is left to make it up as they go along based on whatever seems right (Prov. 14:12).
It is not so with the Christian who lives a life of trust in the Lord. The path is straight because there is always a source of morality, identity, and purpose. The Lord will always guide His people in answering the question, "What is the right thing?"
In conclusion
My prayer is that you now have a new appreciation for these two popular verses. And, more than that, I pray your trust grows deeper in the Lord. In this society of confusion, we desperately need men and women who know what they believe, trust in the Lord, and follow His clear direction.
Originally published at https://medium.com on December 28, 2021.