Trust In The Lord
Gordon Crook, PastorGrace Assembly, Wichita, Kansas
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5
Such a simple and familiar verse. Many have memorized this verse in their Sunday school class. But, as with most such simple verses, there are deep truths here that are very important to our spiritual life.
Trust – to trust, to have confidence, to be secure, to feel safe. These are the meanings of the original Hebrew word used here. These will help us think about what is really being expressed here, and what it means to our daily living.
Trust is something that is earned. It is hard to trust someone that you don’t know, or someone that has not proven to be trustworthy. So, when we read that we should trust in God with all of our heart (everything in us), we need to know if God is trustworthy. Has He earned our trust? You might be thinking that I have no business thinking about God this way. I see in Scripture that God wants me to think this way. On many occasions, God encouraged His people to watch Him work on their behalf. Exodus 14:13, 2Kings 6:16, 2Chronicles 20:17, Isaiah 41:10.
As I read God’s Word, I find that He has and is proving Himself to be trustworthy. In fact, there has never been anyone that can be considered more trustworthy than God. He has always done exactly what He said He would do. This is what Paul tells us in Romans 15:4. Paul reminds us that this gives us hope, because we can trust God with our future based on His trustworthiness in the past.
Trusting in the Lord is what will make us steadfast. This is an important fact for all of God’s people to understand. We do not become steadfast by looking to our own ability, but by trusting in our steadfast God. Psalms 125:1.
The level of confidence we have is also based on God’s record of never failing anything He said. Joshua 23:14, 1 Kings 8:56. It is also based on our understanding of God’s ability to do what He says. As humans, we might have a true intention and desire to do what we say, but sometimes we might just not have the ability to follow through. Ephesians 3:20. Having confidence in God’s ability to complete that He says, should put our heart at rest.
If you are expecting someone to do something really important for you, that might have significant repercussions if not done well, you might be uneasy until it is complete. We never need to be uneasy waiting for God to complete His promises. Philippians 4:6, Isaiah 26:3. In fact, we are encouraged to ask with thanksgiving which demonstrates our confidence in our Lord.
Secure and feeling safe. We feel secure and safe when our system of defense is working as it should. We lock our doors, and maybe turn on some lights to help us feel safe from someone coming in and causing harm. I watched a man who had guardian dogs for his flocks, and he spoke of feeling safe because he knew the dogs were always on alert and would never allow any predator to harm his flock.
When our trust and our confidence is fully in our Lord, we can feel safe and secure knowing that He is always on alert and will not allow our enemy to harm us. Hebrews 13:5, Psalm 91. This is better security than anything we can come up with.
Which brings us to the second part of our verse. If we are to put all of our trust and confidence in our God, then we cannot lean unto our own understanding. This also means that we cannot try to second guess God and His purposes. If we truly trust Him, we have to recognize that our thinking will only make us doubt God’s true ability in our life.
Our understanding is limited by our short existence and our ability to understand the world around us. Our ability is so limited by our human frailty and inability to see beyond the present. God sees the end from the beginning, so He has knowledge that we cannot.
Do not allow the enemy to rob you of your confidence in your Lord. Place all of your trust in the Lord with every part of your life, and He will give you safety, security and rest and relief from anxiety.
