Proverbs 3:5–6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
The wisdom of Proverbs here issues this very basic imperative: “Trust in the Lord.” Whether in the Old or New Testaments, the message is the same. A right relationship with God comes only by faith in God. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6), and ”the just shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4). And “we walk by faith, and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). We are both justified and sanctified by faith.
Trusting in the Lord “with all your heart” allows for nothing to displace or compete with that trust. This dependence upon God is whole-hearted. If God is ultimately trustworthy, then He is deserving of our ultimate trust. This is God-dependence as opposed to self-dependence, or the tendency to trust in ourselves. When life is going well for us, still we are to trust in God. When things are going poorly for us and our very lives are at stake, and the Lord appears not to answer our prayers, we are still to trust in Him. While in the throes of the great crisis of his life, the Philippian jailer was about to commit suicide. He cried out to the evangelists, “What must I do to be saved?” And Paul called out to him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!” (Acts 16:31). Believing in Christ is to trust in God for the greatest needs of the human soul—salvation from death, sin, and hell. God must be trusted for everything. We trust Christ as our Savior, our Lord, and our Prophet, Priest, and King. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” ( John 7:38).
The believer also must not lean upon his own understanding. Personal opinions must give way to God’s Word. Always, the first inclination must be to doubt oneself, but never to doubt God. “What makes sense to me,” is always trumped by the Word of God.
Trusting God will also include an acknowledgment of Him in all our ways. God must never be ignored in our everyday experiences. His presence is to be recognized. His favor is to be sought after. His perspectives are to be taken into account. To know God is to know what displeases Him and what pleases Him, the things He loves and the things He hates. To walk with God is to consider that which He loves and hates in all our ways and with every decision we make.
How many young people today are directionless in life? They wander from college to college, and from city to city, trying to “find themselves.” Then many older adults will experience what is called the “mid-life crisis.” At fifty years of age, they find themselves with little purpose and direction in life. They may have started out with self-confidence, sure of their own opinions and assessments. But they have neglected to acknowledge God, or to seek the will of God for their lives.
What is known of God and His will is revealed first and foremost in the Scriptures. This is where we must start when seeking out God’s will for our lives. Before looking for specific direction, every person must know God’s will already revealed in Scripture.
What does God want for our lives? He tells us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness. He tells men to be spiritual leaders (1 Tim. 2:8), to love sacrificially as Christ did (Eph. 5:24), to shepherd their homes (Eph. 6:4), to defend their homes from spiritual and physical harm (Neh. 4:14), and to provide for the material needs of their family and extended family as needed (1 Tim. 5:8). He tells the women to learn in quietness, dress appropriately and modestly, submit to their husbands, love their children, manage the home, and provide complementary help for their husbands in the economic tasks (among a few other things). (See 1 Tim. 2:9-15, Tit. 2:3-5, Gen. 2:16, etc.) There are exceptions for those who are called to the single life. But will the average young man or woman take God’s vision for their lives into account while preparing for their futures in high school and college? Universities may provide some academic preparation for a career, but they miss out on God’s vision. Most modern universities have little or no interest in preparing women or men for what God has prescribed.
Another way to acknowledge God is by sincere prayer for wisdom and direction in life. If God is the source of all wisdom and if we are in great need of wisdom, our first priority is to seek direction in prayer with all sincerity and faith. Once more, we are looking entirely to Him for that wisdom, and not to ourselves.
Every young person should seek wise and good direction for their lives by prayer and wise counsel. After all, nobody plans to fail in life. Some paths will lead to better things, while others lead to destruction. Any given life is made up of a thousand decisions at a thousand crossroads. If they would strike out on a good path, then, young persons would do well to first acknowledge God’s vision as laid out in His revealed Word, and then consider how best to prepare so as to realize that vision for them. Will this academic coursework or that activity prepare the young woman to be a manager in the home and an economic complement for her husband? Will certain diversions and pastimes really help the young man to form the character needed to lead his home and love his wife sacrificially? When men and women fail to acknowledge God in all their ways, they can be sure He will not direct their paths.
1. Describe what it is to trust God, using at least four terms. For what sorts of things in life do we trust God?
2. What does it mean to lean on your own understanding?
3. What does it mean to acknowledge God in all your ways?