Trust: Trust God With All Your Heart

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5

A sales executive constantly sulks, whimpers, and whines over his mediocre sales performance. He presumes those who earn a better living than he does must engage in some sort of spurious practices. He masks his disappointment with that common refrain, “I’m just trusting in the Lord.”

This man constantly rehearses the faults of more successful people in his field to make himself feel better. He has not opened a trade magazine or attended a seminar in years; he isn’t motivated to gain a first-rate understanding of his product and develop new applications for his customers. He, like many people, only “trust the Lord” to cover up for mediocrity.

If any one point of the Bible repeats itself more than the rest, it must be this idea of trusting God. “Trust…and lean not on your own understanding.” Does this mean we fly blind? Of course not.

Implicit in not leaning on your understanding is that you have taken the time to build an understanding upon which you do not rely. God doesn’t want bumbling businessmen or ho-hum homemakers who don’t develop the most excellent understanding of their field possible.

God says to trust Him. He also says don’t lean, or depend, on your own understanding. To not lean on it, you must have one. The idea of blind trust miscues what God is saying. He wants us to build the finest understanding of whatever field we pursue, whether science, business, theology, the arts, music, medicine or anything else.

And don’t think home-making isn’t major league to God:

The most creative job in the world involves fashion, decorating, recreation, education, transportation, psychology, romance, cuisine, literature, art, economics, government, pediatrics, geriatrics, entertainment, maintenance, purchasing, law, religion, energy and management. Anyone who can handle all those has to be somebody special. She is. She’s a homemaker. (Richard Kerr)

Be excellent, the very best you can be. God loves knowledgeable experts. They bring Him honor.

The Risk

The risk is to understand so well that we stop trusting. It is a delicate balance. Learn everything you can, but always trust the Lord for direction. Trust Him with 100 percent of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Once we use every reasonable effort to understand our situation and give our personal best, then we fret not one iota over the outcome, but “trust in the Lord.” By looking to God as the source of our supply and not to men, we fulfill the challenge: “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6).

I SURRENDER

My Father, I confess I have used the principle of trusting in You to condone the mediocre effort I have been putting forth. I ask You to give me the strength and courage to develop the best possible understanding of every task and responsibility for which I am entrusted. Help me become excellent. Even though I may achieve a superior understanding, I will always surrender the outcome to my trust in the Lord. Amen.