Total Trust

“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

When we trust in the Lord, we do so entirely. We cannot trust both in the Lord and in ourselves; the two do not go together, no more than oil and water. “Trusting” in the Lord involves two parts: faith and rest -- faith that God can and will do to us according to His loving nature, and then resting in that knowledge. We trust in the pilot whenever we fly. We believe that his training has given him the adequate knowledge and experience necessary to fly us, and so we rest in that.

As believers in Christ, when we trust in the Lord, we are guaranteed the right direction. Not that God’s will will magically appear in the sky or that we will not have difficulties once we place our entire trust in Him. When we trust in the Lord, we are guaranteed that He will make our paths straight—that is to say, we will continually be assured of doing what is right in His sight. Whenever we position ourselves to do the will of God as it is revealed in the Word of God, we will then have the peace of God. We may experience difficulties, trials, or tribulations, but we will get through them as we continually walk with Him. We do not trust in our own subjective feelings and emotions that can quickly change. We have a deep abiding rest, knowing that God will continually work His will in our lives for His good and our joy.

When we actively and intentionally set our minds to trust in the Lord, we are acknowledging that God will work out whatever situation we face, and as we do so, He will then give us straight paths that lead to Him. Taking steps of faith while trusting in Him is part of “working out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). As we do so, He helps us by directing our paths. How encouraging! In fact, Philippians 2:13 continues by confirming that “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Whenever we are trusting in the Lord, we are actively working out our salvation, and when we do so, we know that He is making our paths straight. He is the one working in us so that He might lead us in paths that will help us become like Christ, conformed to His image, a light to the world, so that others might see Jesus in us.

May God enable each of us to trust in Him with all of our hearts, so that we may experience His peace that transcends all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Amen.