Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths. Don’t consider yourself to be wise; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
Proverbs 3:5-7 HCSB
There were many times I said I trusted the Lord, but I wasn’t trusting Him with my whole heart. God didn’t want my half-hearted faith.
God knows our future. He knows what will happen in our lives in the next five minutes and fifty years from now. He knows when we will take our last breath here on planet earth. So why wouldn’t we trust Him to guide us? He also loves us unconditionally with a supernatural kind of love that we may never be able to fully comprehend. He loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son to earth to die for our sins.
I don’t know about you, but many times I have suffered because I put my trust in a human that let me down. God has never let me down. The times that He did not allow me to have my way I later discovered, sometimes much later, that He had better plans for me. I have learned that trusting in Him with my whole heart just makes good sense.
When it comes to relying on your own understanding, I could tell you some stories. Some of the biggest jams I have gotten myself into was when I really thought I knew what I was doing. I thought I had it all figured out. I just forged ahead without even acknowledging God, much less asking Him about it. I didn’t ask for His guidance, I didn’t ask if I should be doing it. I just went full force ahead. I got myself into some fine messes that way.
I have learned to acknowledge God in all that I do. I pray about everything. I talk to Him throughout the day. I acknowledge Him or think about Him in all my ways and all I do.
He guides me on the right paths. I have learned the hard way that as long as I keep God in mind and pray that He keeps me on the right path. He helps me not to veer off. In Deuteronomy 28:14 Moses is telling the Israelites to be obedient to the Lord. He is telling them to listen to the Lord’s commands and be careful to follow them. He tells them not to turn to the right or to the left and not to follow other gods or worship them.
God expects us to stay on the right path, but the great thing is that He will help us to stay on the right path. He will lead us and guide us. All we have to do is ask and trust in Him.
Some people quote Proverbs 3:5-6 and stop there. But verse 7 tells us not to consider ourselves wise. When we start thinking we are wise and start thinking we are all that and a bag of chips, before you know it pride creeps in. Proverbs 16:18 tells us that pride goes before destruction. Thinking we are wise leads to our downfall. We are told in James 4:6 that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
When we think we have everything under control, we often fail to recognize who is in control.
We are to fear the Lord, which doesn’t mean we shake in our boots at the sound of His name. It means that we have this reverential awe for Him. It means that we adore Him and we want to worship and praise Him.
And last but not least, we are to turn away from evil. When we trust in God, we can be assured that we have the wisdom and discernment to spot evil. We will encounter evil and we will be persecuted. Don’t be silly enough to think you can combat it on your own. Give it over to God and turn away from it.
We are told in Romans 12:19-21 that we are not to avenge ourselves, but leave room for God’s wrath because vengeance belongs to Him. Vengeance is God’s department. We are not to be conquered by evil, but are to conquer evil with good.
Making this verse my mantra got me through some very difficult times. It has also made my relationship with the Lord much stronger. Turn to God today, trust in Him with all your heart, acknowledged Him in all you do and He will guide you on the right paths.
Have a great day!