This post is part of a 40-Day Prayer Journey through the season of Lent. Click here to learn more and read other posts in the series.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
As a Christian, I want to trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding. I want to submit to him in all of my ways . . . but in reality, it’s incredibly difficult for me to live out these words from Proverbs. Impossible, even.
I trust the Lord and lean not on my own understanding to a point, with some of my heart, but not all of it.
When the road through life is smooth, and there aren’t any issues or problems that make me question, fear, or doubt that God knows what he’s doing, that’s when I don’t have any trouble trusting and leaning on him. That’s when I don’t struggle to submit to him.
But when those issues and problems loom on the horizon, as they always do, my natural inclination is to snatch back that trust and lean on my own understanding—to try and solve those difficulties on my own.
It’s almost as if I feel that God has betrayed my trust by allowing issues and problems into my life.
Dear Christian, if you’ve ever felt similarly, here’s the truth: The presence of issues and problems in our lives isn’t a betrayal of our loving God. Such things come from living in a sin-darkened world. Despite those difficulties, our God is right by our side, with promises in his Word that he will never leave or forsake us and he loves us with an everlasting love.
Such moments are an invitation for us to say as Christians, “God, I don’t know why you’re allowing this to happen. I don’t know what you’re planning to accomplish through this. But I do know you. I know who you say you are in your Word. Help me trust in you. Help me lean on you and submit to you in this and in all things.”
When our trust wavers, when we fail to lean on God and submit to him, we look to our Savior Jesus. His perfect trust in the Lord with his whole heart was for us. He leaned on God; he followed God’s will for his life and perfectly submitted to him, even if that meant suffering and dying on the cross—because that was for us too. His trust is ours. His perfect submission is ours.
Thank you, God, for Jesus. Help us look to him and trust in you. Guide our footsteps through life until we get home to heaven with you.
Today as you pray, ask that God would empower his people to live and act in trust that God is in control. Ask that God would comfort his children with the assurances that he loves them with an everlasting love and is guiding them home to heaven with him.
Did you enjoy this post? Subscribe for free devotional content every week!
Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
Leave a Reply