“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
Perhaps this is the most profound set of verses in the entire Bible. They are certainly quoted frequently enough, beautifully inscribed on countless paintings, pictures, and stationery. The message they convey is simple yet extremely challenging at the same time. Trust God during all times of life. Trust him when you don’t understand what he is doing. Trust him when you don’t know how his plan will precisely unfold. Trust that he is in control of your life and future.
When unforeseen events take place, especially that are tragic in nature, these verses can operate as the double-edged sword they are. They can be both comforting and challenging. Maybe we have lost a loved one without warning. Perhaps our company has been acquired and our job eliminated, or we are passed up for a promotion. It may be that the doctor report was not were anticipating or that the check did not cover all of our expenses. Maybe a family member has been in a bad accident and we don’t know what is next.
I’ve personally experienced some of the above. And none of it was fun. To the contrary, much of it was very traumatic. And yet, what I discovered along the way is that the most peaceful times of my journey came when I let go, when I stopped trying to fix what is humanly unfixable, when I ceased attempting to figure out God’s next move, when I realized that I am truly powerless without his leadership. These are the times when I stopped worrying and began resting in the reminder that the route I chose to take a long time ago was one of faith, one of trusting an unknown future to a known God. Peace came from understanding that trying to plot my own course without God ordering my steps is not an act of trust.
Ours is a journey of faith. Of trust. Faith and trust are interchangeable, mirror images of one another. The book of Hebrews reminds us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” and that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” In Corinthians, we are urged to “walk by faith and not by sight,” that through and because of Christ, we can trust in God and his plan of redemption which includes our lives and current struggles, a plan that was preordained from the beginning of time. Our God wins in the end, and already we share in that victory. Every day is a step closer to a celebration that will last for all eternity. A celebration and eternity that are guaranteed.
In the meantime, we live in the in between times, the times when the wheat and the weeds are growing together, times when faith can supply us with “hinds’ feet on high places,” to quote Hannah Hannard. During times like these, our own understanding will lead us astray if it is not ultimately superseded by faith. Our own understanding is destined to fail us at some point. All of this to say that if we truly believe God loves us so much that he gave us his Son, then we can trust this God with what we do not yet know and see. We can be certain that even though we walk through the darkest valley, the Good Shepherd is with us, and that he is leading us. His promise is to never leave. Are you trusting in his leadership today?