Trusting God

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
    do not depend on your own understanding.

Seek his will in all you do,
    and he will show you which path to take.

Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
    Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Then you will have healing for your body
    and strength for your bones.” Proverbs 3:5-8 NLT

We were running late, as we often are, to get the day started. Between sleepy faces, breakfast preparations and an inadequate supply of coffee….the timeline was rapidly approaching and my patience for it was sorely lacking. As morning mist rolled in (making the drive to school even more difficult) I couldn’t get the windshield to clear, and I just about crumbled. Defrost was blasting as I barreled down the road to school, and I knew it was time for my Hail Mary. After trying all of the tricks, a prayer popped out of my mouth “God please clear the way!” And like watching a miracle materialize the vapor got vaporized and I could see perfectly. All of my striving was for naught….and I found myself wishing I had simply turned to God in the first place. 

Why is it so easy to trust in ourselves and our own efforts? And why does that often lead to us leaving God out of the equation? 

As an avid seeker of wisdom, I can’t tell you how many times I have read the above passage from Proverbs chapter 3. But in light of the fact that trusting God seems to be a constantly reoccurring theme lately, I find that something from the depths of me needs reminding. Maybe you do too. 

As I was meditating on this passage of scripture, I found  several age-old reminders, and some that also felt new. Yes, it will always help us to remember to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts…..because it is all too often, all too easy to depend on our own understanding. Our vision, and what we can see, is often obscured by the world we live in. We walk by faith, not sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) and that means we depend on something beyond our understanding. I think one of the reasons that God keeps bringing trusting him up, is because there is always more to trust him for. If we’re honest with ourselves, there are constantly pieces of our hearts that need surrendering. There is no room for error here, because we aren’t give age-old wisdom that leaves a lot of room for the inconstant or nebulous. God couldn’t be more clear: Trust in the Lord. With. All. Your. Heart. 

I don’t always do that. In fact, I like thinking God wants me to co-pilot. And by co-pilot I often try to edge him out calling the shots and demanding he move according to my deadlines. In the end, like a cloudy windshield when you’re running late, that only makes the journey more difficult, more obscured, and much more challenging. How can a way through the impossible, challenging or difficult be made unless it is a loving Father God who makes it?

And there it is…. the call to lay down trusting in ourselves, and to trust fully in Him.

I think it all boils down to this: God is after our hearts. Our whole hearts. If we remember that he disciplines those he loves, he is willing to walk us through challenges and trials to remind us that he is the one who our trust should be in. As we are driven to our knees, or to a holy place of surrender, we find the opportunity to find what our hearts were crying out for all along- a deep abiding trust that can be found in him, and in him alone.

So much love,

Joy