This morning I sat down to spend time with the Lord, and He very clearly whispered the word “trust.” Immediately, on of my favorite passages flooded my heart:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

These verses contain tremendous advice combined with wonderful promises! Let’s consider what they teach that every dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ must remember.

First and foremost, this passage commands us to “trust in the Lord.” The Hebrew word translated trust is בָּטַח ḇâṭaḥ, which means “boldly confident, secure and sure.” In other words, when we meditate on God’s greatness, God builds bold confidence His character and faithfulness. He grants us the assurance that God will always do what is right. And He instills security deep in our spirit that all is well despite uncontrollable surroundings.

The second part of Proverbs 3:5 says, “lean not on your own understanding.” That’s excellent advice to every follower of Jesus Christ! God commands us to never lean on our ‘humanoid’ perception. We are limited in our view; God is not!

You see, sometimes our perceptions are built on a false foundation.

Often our perceptions and opinions are built on other people’s false premises, calculations, and wrong views.

And often our perceptions are built on our overconsumption of the news, social media—or even the negative attitudes of friends, family, and acquaintances.

This verse warns us not trust our “own understanding;” and that includes people’s fearful thoughts about the future. Only God’s understanding is perfect!

In times like these, many are turning to the news for information. Don’t get me wrong; I keep up with the news to stay informed. However, we must remember that a tiny group of people control the news networks. Many of these people are not godly in any sense of the word. Unfortunately, some of them try to manipulate the masses, not with news, but with their own opinions of current events. Some of them have their own agenda—not to inform us but to win us to their perspective. I’ll leave that thought there and move on—but think about that the next time you listen to the news, and don’t overreact to what you hear. Instead, trust in the Lord with all your heart!

Adjust to Trust

Do you want to live life trusting and relying upon the Lord? If you answered yes, then some things will have to change. You probably already know what they are, but let me throw out some suggestions.

First, we’ll have to adjust how we spend our time. Honestly, I find that very few people spend an hour or two with the Lord every day in prayer and Bible study. Many Christians spend hours watching the news or sports or consumed in the world of social media. Facebook gets more time than God’s book in their daily schedule. (Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and podcasts too!)

It’s no mystery why they don’t have God’s peace in their hearts.

It’s no wonder they don’t have faith and confidence in God.

It’s obvious why they have trouble trusting in the Lord.

Let’s be honest:

• How can I trust the Lord in a truly biblical sense if I don’t daily read His Word and talk to Him in prayer?
• How can I expect to have peace that passes understanding if I inundate my heart and mind with wrong voices?
• How can I trust in the Lord when I listen more to the words of lukewarm Christians and unbelievers than those who are genuinely seeking God?

Let me say this: Nothing will change if we don’t change! We need to change what we feed our hearts and minds. What goes into our hearts will come out of our hearts and mouths. If we fill our hearts with the amoral or immoral—the earthly ways of the world—the worldly attitudes of fear and anxiety will come out. That’s the truth!

Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

In All Your Ways Acknowledge Him

Proverbs 3:6 says, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” What does it mean to acknowledge Him? The Hebrew word acknowledge is יָדַע yâḏa. It means “to be acquainted, be aware of, to comprehend, to discern, to discover, to know as a faithful friend.”

In other words:

• Acknowledge God as your faithful Father.
• Acknowledge God by seeking Him in the pages of His book.
• Acknowledge God by talking to Him in prayer and listening for His response!

Acknowledge Him in those ways, and:

• He will direct your paths.
• He will make the way clear before you.
• He will give you bold and godly confidence and faith.
• He will remove the clouds of uncertainty about the here and now and the hereafter.
• He wants to do that for us! He wants us to rest in Him. But there is a biblical and heavenly way to receive that rest. It doesn’t merely happen; it takes some changes in direction to live that way.

We will need to acknowledge the greatness of our God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We will need to be acquainted with His way of redemption found only in Jesus Christ. So let’s remind ourselves and each other of God’s ability to deliver His people, of the grace given to us through Jesus Christ, and of the precious promises He gave to us.

It’s so vital that we spend more time doing these things and less time listening to the news, binging on sports, Netflix, or Youtube, and being overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

Instead, let’s become overwhelmed by God’s goodness, grace, and love. Let’s be overwhelmed by God’s strength and power to save, deliver, and heal!

Let’s spend some time voluntarily quarantined in His presence. Will you do that? If you do, things will begin to change in your heart for the better.

Our God truly is awesome, and I pray He blesses you today as you seek Him and call on His name! He loves you with an everlasting love. Don’t ever doubt that!