Trusting God isn't easy, if we're being honest.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord doesn’t come naturally or easily, if we’re honest. 

Yes, I know I am made in God’s image. I’m aware he designed me for communion with Him and I’m wired to connect with Him. Yet, I still struggle. The bible tells us over 300 times not to fear. So the good “Christian” thing is to pretend fear doesn’t exist, refuse to talk about it, and ignore it when it pops up in our minds, hearts, and emotions. We can’t admit fear and still follow Jesus, right?

Of course, that’s silly. The Lord has to tell us not to fear so many times because He understands fear is sometimes our default response! We are human, and He designed us! He asks us not to accept it and partner with it. Naming fear is one of the most powerful things we can do. 

Naming fear is a major part of confession. 

 Back to my original statement, trust in the Lord doesn’t come naturally or easily, if we’re honest.

Proverbs 3:5

Proverbs 3:5-6 is one of my favorite and least favorite verses in scripture. 

“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.”

Trusting God over "self"

This advice is such a challenge to my western thinking. My self-sufficient, type-A, list making, get stuff done, independent self, doesn’t like this one bit. Here’s what goes through my mind, if I’m being honest. 

Lord, I’ve been on this planet for 46 years. I’ve learned a few things. I’m pretty smart and I’ve done pretty well for myself. Why are you telling me I can’t use any of the things I’ve learned over the past decades since I’ve been alive? I can’t lean on any of the understanding I’ve gained of the world and how things work? What’s the point of giving me intellect and a brain if I’m not allowed to use it? If you ask me, this is a bunch of hooey.

There you go, there’s a little snippet into the mind of Jen. I’m not saying I stay here, or that’s my final answer. I’m just being transparent about how my mind works when I’m wrestling with scripture. 

So I dive in. 

Turns out, there are really cool things to learn when we stay curious and dig into scripture. I love blueletterbible.org and I use the app almost every day of my life. Using the interlinear function in Blue Letter Bible (BLB), I learn that the Hebrew word for “lean” means to lean on, trust in, support or support oneself. It’s translated as lean, stay, rely, or rest. The word for understanding means discernment, faculty, act, object, or personified. It’s translated as understanding, wisdom, knowledge, meaning, perfectly, or understand. 

As I dig into scripture, talk to Him in prayer, and confess and converse with Him in my daily life, I learn the Lord isn’t telling me to stay away from pursuing wisdom and understanding. He’s asking me, in my pursuit of understanding of the world around me, not to rely on my knowledge, discernment, or wisdom, which were developed using human faculties. The Lord knows me; I will rely on myself and my own understanding in a heartbeat. If I depend on myself, I don’t depend upon Him. I can’t lean on both, can it? 

In verse 6, the verse says in all my ways, I’m supposed to “acknowledge” Him. According to BLB, the Hebrew word used here means to know, to learn how, to perceive, to find out and discern, to know by experience, to confess, to consider, to be acquainted with, to know (a person carnally), to have knowledge and be wise. Interestingly enough, when I look at all the scriptures which use this word, there are several times it refers to men knowing their wife to make some babies (Genesis 4:1, 17, 25). In a couple of the more disturbing passages, it is the word used when wicked men of a town want to sexually use the guests (either angelic or human) of someone else (Genesis 19:5, Judges 19:22), or to rape a man’s concubine (Judges 19:25). Of course, those are just fascinating (and disturbing) bunny trails. 

In verse 6, to acknowledge means to get to know the Lord, become familiar with His ways, and check in with Him before I move on. He wants me to bring Him into my decision-making process as I move through life. I’m not on my own. He is always with me. He promises never to leave me or abandon me, and that includes walking with me through the everyday events and decisions of my life. 

I believe He wants me to walk with Him and check in with Him frequently as part of the normal rhythm of life.  

Trust still doesn’t come easily. Having confidence in God, being bold in Him, resting secure in Him, and feeling safe in Him doesn’t come naturally to me. I frequently remind myself that He is God, He is the one Who created the universe; He knows the end from the beginning. He knows every single thing about me I don’t even know or understand. I have to bring up testimonies from my history with Him to remind me of the times He showed Himself as Protector, Provider, Rear Guard, and Light upon my path. 

After reminding myself and living in the truth of Who He is, I can curb the fears that spring up in unfamiliar situations and remember to trust. It’s a lot of work, but the life He calls me to is so worth it and way better than anything I could ever dream up for myself. 

So, if I’m honest, trust doesn’t come easily. I have to fight to stay in that place of trusting in God. When I live in that place, I never regret it. He reveals more of Himself to me when I trust in Him. He sends me to outrageous places and the most wonderful people on earth. He shares His heart with me and shows me how things work when I trust in Him. 

I continually learn how true scripture is as I walk with Him. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, the bible says, “My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” As I meditated on that message and started looking into the words, I realized I don’t enjoy being in places of weakness. Many times, when I am living life on my own, I will avoid places of weakness. But God actually wants us to get to a place of weakness. He wants us to reach the end of ourselves, the end of what we can do, so He can show up with His grace and power. 

We can’t access the grace and power of God if we stay safe in what we can do for ourselves. It takes courage and real trust in God to intentionally place ourselves in a position of weakness, because at that point, we have exhausted all our own skills, knowledge, and abilities. It places us in a position of vulnerability, because if He doesn’t show up, we are going down. 

Getting comfortable with dying to self.

If I’m honest, I get uncomfortable when I feel weak and vulnerable. Trust is so hard for an independent girl like me. But it’s necessary. And it’s so worth it. He’s always worth it. I need His grace to lay my own feelings aside, die to self, stop self-protecting, and trust in Him. 

Every uncomfortable moment is an opportunity to trust in Him instead of myself. When I want to self protect, trust in Him must override. The Amplified Bible says Proverbs 3:5-6 succinctly:

Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart

And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,

And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].

I’m a worshiper. He is worthy of all the honor, the worship, the praise, and the glory. But He is also worthy of my obedience, reliance, and dependence. He’s worthy of my trust. The most important way I worship Him is truly trusting Him, asking Him, acknowledging Him, and being obedient to what He says. 

My prayer for you is the same prayer I’ve used for myself: Lord, give us courage to trust in You with all our hearts, have confidence in You, and rely on You. We know You have the higher perspective. You know what’s ahead, You know what’s going on in our hearts, and You know what You are trying to form inside each of us. We trust You with everything we have. Continue to show us ways we don’t trust You, and give us Your Grace to rely on You more and more. We don’t want to rely on ourselves anymore, we’ve done that for too long.

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