Trust in the Lord

Trust in the Lord

Trust—that’s a word that brings a variety of reactions.

There are people we can think of immediately when we hear it. There’s that cringe feeling we get when trust has been broken. Then there are those relationships that fall somewhere in between.

I think most of us fall in the middle. There are people we know we can trust, but at the same time, the thought of learning to trust someone new feels like a lot of work, and we kind of just go, “Ugh, I’m good.”

There happens to be one Scripture that we really need to grab hold of when it comes to trust and who we can trust.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

This Scripture contains several key words that point us toward trusting God.

1 – Trust in the Lord – Have a firm and confident belief in God's character, abilities, and intentions.

2 – Lean – This tells us to place all of who we are on Him—to lean into Him and His ways, not our own understanding.

3 – Submit – Submission means giving up our way and trusting God's way. The Bible tells us that God's thoughts and ways are nothing like ours, and we can trust that His are better.

When we look at each of these words and how they lead us to trust in the Lord, we see that He truly is the One we can trust, lean on, and submit to completely.

We struggle with discernment and judgment in many areas of life, but God never struggles.

Things used to seem so simple when it came to information. Now we live in a world of information overload, and we can be pulled in more directions and distracted in more ways than we can count. This is where trusting and knowing God's Word works to our advantage.

When we know and understand who God is and trust His Word, no matter what is thrown at us, we can discern more clearly because we are seeking wisdom and understanding from the one source, we can fully trust. He has been here from the beginning, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. With that kind of consistency and stability, we know we can trust God with all our heart, mind, and soul.

We often hear that we need to trust the process. The process is exactly what we question.

That's because we either know what's coming and don't want to go through it, or we have no idea what's coming, and that uncertainty scares us. So, we move through life feeling out of control and unsure.

But let's revisit what this Scripture calls us to do: trust in the Lord, lean on Him, and submit all that we are to Him. When we do that, we can trust that the path we're on will unfold according to God's will and purpose.

We can be confident in God's character, ability, and intentions for our lives.

Romans 8:28 reminds us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

And Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

We even struggle to trust ourselves.

Think about when you're trying to make a decision. We often struggle.

Funnily enough, think about what happens when we go to a restaurant and look at the menu. We read over all the options, make a choice, and then before placing our order, we start second-guessing ourselves.

Is that really what I want?

If we do that with something as simple as food, then you know we do it with much bigger decisions as well.

Now, I know some people can make quick decisions and never look back, and that's amazing because, good or bad, they stick with their choice and deal with whatever comes from it.

I think that's how we should live when it comes to trusting God. When we choose to trust Him, we have to ride the wave and see where it takes us, whether the season feels good or bad, knowing that God has everything under control.

To me, that shows true trust and submission.

I struggle with this for sure. I'm a prime example. I'm not a quick decision-maker. I tend to think through every possible angle. I don't think that's necessarily bad, but I don't think it's always good either because I can miss the path God has laid out for me while trying to figure everything out on my own instead of trusting Him fully.

I'm still learning not to talk myself out of things and instead listen to and trust the Lord.

I truly want to live out Proverbs 3:5-6:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

The more we trust Him, the less we have to carry on our own.

Trust isn't about knowing where the path leads, it's about knowing the One leading you.