Reading - Proverbs Chapter 3

 

The Importance of Trusting God

Trust - the firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. (Oxford Language) As humans we tend to put our trust in a lot of things including ourselves, others, objects, events, and systems but as a Christian we need to put our trust in God and God alone.

Proverbs chapter 3 speaks on trust and the importance of trusting to Lord with all your heart. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight” (3:5-6). The word trust in these versus can best be described as a servant waiting for the master’s command in readiness to obey Gods instructions to us. Trust in the Lord is to be so onboard and committed so that if God fails (just an explanation), we will sink with him. As Christians' we are also commanded to have a complete trust in the and not half. “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit” (Revelations 3:15-16). This trust being complete can scare Christians in the sense that they might fail at the “Completeness” of their love and trust in the Lord. These versus describes this love as not being objectively perfect but, that a heart and life that does not consciously reject or deny God. Jesus spoke a lot about children and a child is a great example for the trust we should have in God. The unwavering confidence we feel as children in our parents wisdom, faithfulness, and love.

To have this “complete” trust we must put away our own understanding and trust and instead choose to trust God and his understanding to lead us to the path he has for us. “Do not rely on your own understanding” is the most important action in trusting the lord. Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, self-sufficiency and self-dependence have ruined mankind and our endeavor to live independently of God.

We are also called to “in all your ways know him”, and this is the one thing that will change your view on Trust with God. Most people put their trust in God when things start to go bad like disease and financial struggles and some praise God only when things are amazing and uphill. This verse not only calls us to trust God when things are bad or good, but through the ordinary and mundane things that happen to us everyday. “He will make your paths straight”, goes hand in hand with knowing him in everything we do. Making our paths straight does not mean he is going to grant us everything we want and make it come to fruition. These paths are not of our own but of God and his will. When we are with God and trusting in him these paths will be seen as right before him and pleasing to us.

Knowing the will of God for our lives is quite simple and Solomon points this out clearly in versus 3 - 5.

- Decide to completely put our trust in the lord.
- Decide not to trust in our own understanding but to seek wisdom from God and his revealed word.
- Decide to know God in all your ways and everything we do.


Trust is something that is important in every aspect in our life but is supreme in our relationship with the lord. This trust will result in loyalty and faithfulness in the lord and path that he has for us.