LEARNING DAILY

 

Proverbs 3:5-7, 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. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil.

 

During the funeral I attended last week the pastor commented that Jesus said to trust Him. This may have come from when Jarius, the ruler of a synagogue, came to Jesus to ask Him to lay His hands on his dying daughter. Before He got there, she died and Jesus told him, “Do not be afraid; only believe [trust Me].” Jarius did not try to stop Jesus from going to his home because he did believe Jesus could still help his daughter – he believed and trusted Jesus. As a result Jesus brought his daughter back to life.

 

How easy it is to say the words to trust someone, to trust Jesus. Would you agree it is very easy to trust when things are going well? But what if you’re finding yourself in circumstances similar to Jarius? I have found that fear of the circumstances, the situation can almost paralyze a person; it can rob one of their faith. However, the words of Jesus to Jarius should strengthen each of us, “Do not be afraid; only believe [trust Me].”!

 

Trusting in the Lord with all our heart is the opposite of doubting God and His Word. The trust that is being written about here is fundamental to our relationship with God; it is fundamental to know and believe that He is trustworthy. As children of God, we are assured that He loves us and faithfully cares for us and is guiding us in the right way as we walk the narrow way. The words from the proverb tell us that God “directs our path”; but notice “we must in all our ways acknowledge Him” or doing already what we know to be right. We must be walking in obedience, trusting in Him. “Depending on our own understanding of truth and life means to disregard God’s will” (DJSB). We must be careful not to put ourselves above God. So, we ask God for understanding when we need to understand situations and circumstances, knowing He gives grace and keeps His promises in those difficult times. We trust Him to work for us! Our own understanding is limited and certainly can be wrong. To lean on our own understanding leads to pride; we demonstrate our trust in Him by continually asking for wisdom and knowledge in all areas of our life.

 

As we acknowledge Him in our plans, decisions and activities, we are telling Him that His will is the desire of our heart. Each day as we seek to do His will, He promises to “direct our path”. This kind of trust does not happen overnight; it is a process. Solomon tells us we trust Him “in all our ways” not some of them.  Can I mention that we must be careful because there are those who say that that trusting in God will lead to prosperity in the eyes of the world. Do not get caught up in this teaching. Trusting God does not mean everything in our life will work out favorably with us. We will walk down difficult paths as we follow Jesus. Trusting Him does mean that He is always in control of every situation and trusting Him means He can turn every bad circumstance into good.

 

Trusting in Him means we cast all our anxieties and fears upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). Because trust is usually built over time, we spend time with Him in prayer and reading/studying His Word. We must do what He leads us to do through His Word even when the world system mocks and laughs at us for doing so. Living His way, on the narrow way, is the best way and the only way to eternal life with Him.

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.