The Trouble with Trusting

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

Webster’s dictionary defines the word, “trust,” as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something” and as a “dependence on something future or contingent.” In other words, it is placing complete assurance in something else. This word plays an important part in our lives as we exercise it daily. We trust our money to the bank when we make a deposit. We trust that our kids will be safe when we drop them off at school or daycare in the morning. We trust that the driver in the adjacent lane at the crossways will actually stop at the light or sign. We trust that our car will take us through the stoplight to our upcoming destination. In fact, I bet you didn’t realize that all of these routine actions consisted of you placing your trust in something or someone. You seldom think twice about the bank not safely keeping your money . . . well, maybe that one is not as true now with the economy, but you get my point. While these actions of trust appear easy due to us carrying them out everyday, why is it then so hard to trust God who has a much better tract record than the banks which can close, the traffic that might not stop, and the car that does not always run? This seems to be the area in which we struggle the most. The fact that we worry is evidence that we are not trusting God. For worry is us trying to handle the situation than “letting go” of the problem and “letting God” take care of it. Among the rich treasures of wisdom found in Solomon’s proverbs, is an exhortation to trust in the Lord and instructions how to do so.

The father’s list of instruction to the son include the necessity of trusting in the Lord. Trust is a necessary component of our Christian life. Not only is placing our trust in Christ for our problems a remedy for our anxiety, but also essential in winning the spiritual battles we go through daily. We can never accomplish anything in our strength but only in His. As Zechariah puts it: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts (4:6). Trust is also important due to our desire to be obedient to the way that God has called us to live. The father is not encouraging us or persuading us to place our trust in the Lord. Instead he is commanding us as the Hebrew verb is in the imperative form so indicating. Therefore, we cannot choose whether to trust in the Lord or not. To choose not to place our trust in Him would be to choose to be disobedient to the Lord’s desire for how we are to live our lives. This is the last thing we want to do. But the question then arises: How should we place our trust in the Lord?

One way in which Solomon instructs us to place our trust in the Lord is with all our heart. This refers to our inner self. The word heart in the Bible is used several ways to refer to our emotions, mind, or will. Together these make up our inner composition. Thus, this is a call to deep inward commitment and not merely outward appearance. Telling people that you are trusting God and mimicking a peaceful smile does not constitute fully trusting the Lord. Remember, All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, / But the LORD weighs the motives (Proverbs 16:2). The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart. Genuine trust must come from the heart and work its way out.

Notice that this is all your heart and not half. This is an undivided trust. We cannot trust God halfway with the other half trusting in the world. We cannot trust in both God and wealth. In fact, the main point of Jesus’ oft quoted teaching on worry in the sermon on the mount is not anxiety. Instead, it concerns in Whom or what one places their trust in. Right before Jesus tells the crowd of disciples do not be worried about your life, He states that You cannot serve God and wealth. The previous context has been whether one’s true treasure was earthly or heavenly. Jesus’ main thrust then is that you need do not need to place your trust in money for daily necessities but in God who can supply all your needs. God takes care of the sparrows and lilies and they do not work for a living. One good thing about the economic situation we are currently in is that it is a visible reminder the frailty of money and the foolishness in placing our trust in it.

A good example of one who placed his full trust in the Lord was King David. While David could never be described as perfect due to the recorded sins of the situation with Bathsheba and the taking of the census later on in life, God described him as having followed Me with all his heart (1 Kings 14:8). David was solely devoted to the Lord. This trust in the Lord was what granted the young shepherd boy victory in the battle over Goliath the giant. He stated that The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine (1 Samuel 17:37). He trusted that the LORD would deliver the giant into his hands (1 Samuel 17:46) and God used him as His chosen instrument to strike down the giant. He did not trust in the armor Saul offered him or his own strength, but instead God who won the victory. We would do well to imitate such a one who trusted God with all their heart.

Another way this text tells us to place our trust in the Lord is by not leaning on our own understanding. This is the opposite of trusting the Lord with all our heart, with all our being. The idea of leaning is that of depending or resting upon something. Instead of depending or resting upon God, this is trusting in what we think is right. One of the biggest mistakes a Christian can make is to rely on his feelings to determine where God may be leading us instead of seeking Him in prayer and through study of His Word. While God gave us emotions and these feelings, they are not the best tool for discernment as they move up and down like a roller coaster and can easily be manipulated. How many times have we made a decision based on an emotion we were having at the time to discover it was not the best choice to make? This could be just one example of depending on our own understanding instead of God Himself. We need to remember the wise counsel later in this book that There is a way which seems right to a man, / But its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12). What we often think is right leads us down a wrong path. We believe that we know what’s best to find out that we have done it wrong all along. A couple of years ago I helped a friend put together a nice wooden entertainment center his family at just purchased. Being the typical stereotypical guy, I assumed that I did not need to look at the directions as I had put several of these together before and they were basically all the same. I was leaning on my own understanding. I finished the masterpiece only to discover that I had built it completely upside down! Had I actually relied on the instructions rather than what I thought best, this might not have happened. The same can be said for us spiritually. God surely knows better than we and we need His instructions to know what to do. Everything that we try to do only results in being backwards. I can attest to the fact that every time I have tried to do something my way I have fallen flat on my face. However, when I seek to do things God’s way, it is successful; not because anything I have done but due to Him. This is why it is important to not lean on what we think is best but rely on God Who knows what is best.

Again we cannot trust fully in two different things at once. We cannot both rely on our own understanding and God simultaneously. Too often than not, our understanding of how we should approach a situation is quite the opposite as to the way that God has for us. Isaiah tells us that For My thoughts are not your thoughts, / Nor are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, / So are My ways higher than your ways / And my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). Submitting to God and trusting only in Him can prevent much heartache that comes when we try to operate based on our own understanding.

The third way the father instructs us to how we should trust in the Lord is in all your ways acknowledge Him. This has to do with our focus. We need to have a Godward focus and recognize His hand in everything that we do and are given in life. The fact that the author states that we are to do this in all ways indicates everything. From the time we open our eyes in the morning to the last thought before we sleep, we are to be acknowledging God. This all ways carries no exceptions. There is not something that we can do where we should not be glorifying God. Scripture calls us to worship Him in everything we do and to do all with the purpose of bringing Him glory. Paul tells us Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) and Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (Colossians 3:17). This would include the minute things in life. I read an article by John Piper not too long ago where he talked about the importance of “drinking orange juice for the glory of God.” Even an everyday small thing such as drinking our orange juice with breakfast should be done for God’s glory. We can acknowledge God by thanking him for the orange to make the juice, the one who processed the juice, and the ability to taste the juice. We can also acknowledge God as being in control of all things. One of the greatest comforts for the believer is the promise of Romans 8:28: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Even in the most distressing circumstances, the truth that God is in control and nothing happens outside His knowledge and ordaining, can be soothing. Even through the pain we can acknowledge God by thanking Him for the pain, although it hurts, knowing that He purposes to use it to further conform us into Christ and bring Him glory. We can take joy in problems knowing that God’s end result is endurance (James 1:3).

Also, in trusting God through acknowledging Him in everything we do, we receive the benefit of God clearing several obstacles out of the way on the path we are following. The result of constant and consistent acknowledging of God is for Him to make our paths straight. Just like it is easier to hear someone when you are looking at their face, it is must easier to discern God’s direction when our focus is on Him instead of other things. It is like driving. When you are focused on the road ahead of you, you are less likely of veering off of the road and leaving your lane. But it is when you take your eyes off the road to look down at your CD player or over at the scenery on the side that your driving no longer is straight and you start weaving. The reason that the path you may be on does not seem straight could be due to your failure to not acknowledge God in all that you are doing. This could be due to the failure of not having an attitude that seeks to glorify God in all that you do. A lot of times we wonder why God has not shown us where He would have us to go when the real problem is that we are not looking towards Him. It may not be that God is not speaking as we presume but that we are not listening. Jesus’ statement bears a close resemblance to this: But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). We need to focus on God instead of all these things and God then will take care of those as well.

Take a moment to reflect your life, especially concerning some problems you are currently experiencing. Are you characterized by a complete trust in Christ, careful not to lean on your own understandings, and have an attitude which acknowledges God in all that you do? This is the essence of what it means to trust in the Lord. Much of our lives are harder than they need be due to our failure to live out the original command given to trust in the Lord. May God aid us in fully trusting in Him and in Him only, through thick and thin, and sunshine and in rain.

In Christ,
Lee
Soli Deo Gloria!