There is a promise in Proverbs 3 that we love as God’s children.

When we don't know what to do, those words are comforting. We want God to show us which way to go. We want Him to keep us from making the wrong decision. We want to know that somehow, even when we can't see what lies ahead, He can lead us there.

But before Proverbs gives us that promise, it gives us three things to do.

“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.” (Proverbs 3:5–6)

Read those words slowly.

First God tells you to trust Him. Not to depend only on what you understand. Acknowledge Him in everything.

Then comes the promise: He will direct your path.

We know this verse so well that it's easy to read all four parts as one beautiful sentence. But there is so much packed into each one that it's worth carefully looking at what God is actually asking of us.

It's easy to trust God when the family is doing well, there's food in the fridge and you go to bed with nothing keeping you awake. It's much harder when something happens that leaves you wondering, “God, why did You let this happen?”

When the prayer you've been praying still hasn't been answered. When something you were sure would work out falls apart. When you did what you believed was right and still ended up disappointed. When you look at your life and genuinely cannot understand what God is doing.

That's when “trust in the Lord with all your heart” can become one of the hardest things to actually do.

Trusting God with all your heart doesn't mean you'll never have questions. It doesn't mean you'll never be disappointed or wonder why something happened. You can trust God and still have moments when you don't understand Him.

The question is what you do with those moments. Do they push you away from God, or do you bring your questions to Him and keep trusting Him while you wait for answers you may not have yet?

Sometimes trust sounds like, “God, I don't understand this. I wouldn't have chosen this. I don't know what You're doing. But I still trust You.”

Think about someone leaning against a tree. The moment they put their weight on it, they're trusting that tree to hold them up. If it gives way, they're going with it.

That's the picture I want you to think about when reading the words, “lean not on your own understanding.”

God isn't telling us not to think. There is nothing wrong with looking at the facts, asking questions, making plans or getting good advice. But there will be moments when everything you can see points one way and God's Word points another.

Maybe someone who refused to help you now needs your help, and paying them back for what they did feels gratifying. Maybe speaking up for someone being treated unfairly could make you unpopular, while saying nothing would keep you out of trouble. Maybe taking responsibility for a mistake could cost you, while letting someone else take the blame would be easier.

What makes sense to us is based on what we know right now. But we don't know what tomorrow holds, what we may have missed, or where one decision could eventually lead. God does. That's why He asks us not to lean on our understanding.

“In all your ways acknowledge Him.”

It's interesting how easily our need for God can change when life changes.

Someone can spend months praying for a job, finally get it, and slowly become too busy to spend time with the God they asked to provide it. We can pray desperately when something is going wrong, then barely talk to God when everything starts going right.

But Proverbs says “in all your ways.”

Acknowledge God when the marriage is beautiful and when your spouse is testing every bit of patience you have. When the test results come back with good news and when they leave you in tears. When there's enough money in the account and when you're wondering how you'll make it to the end of the month. When the prayer is answered and while you're still waiting for an answer.

We shouldn’t only acknowledge God when we need rescuing. We are to acknowledge Him in every moment.

That means we don't only run to Him when we're afraid and forget Him when we're comfortable. We thank Him in the good seasons. We seek Him in the difficult ones. We talk to Him when we're confused. Even when we're disappointed and angry with Him, we bring that disappointment to Him rather than allowing it to push us away.

That's what makes those four words so powerful. Whatever season you're in, don't do it without God.

After all of that comes the part many of us look forward to.

“And He shall direct your paths.”

We want that.

We want God to show us where to go. We want to know we're making the right decision. We want Him to stop us from wasting years on the wrong road.

But Proverbs doesn't give us a formula for getting God to tell us exactly what will happen next.

It shows us how to walk with Him when we don't know what happens next.

Trust Him with all your heart. Don't put all your weight on what you understand. Acknowledge Him in every part of your life. And trust Him with the path.

That doesn't mean every road will be easy. Sometimes God's direction may lead somewhere we didn't expect. Sometimes we may not understand why a door closed or why something took longer than we hoped. There may even be times when we only understand what God was doing years later.

We don't have to see the whole road to trust the One directing it.

There is something difficult about trusting someone when you don't know what they're going to do.

We like knowing the plan. We like knowing what happens next. But God doesn't always give us that. Sometimes all we have is what we know about Him.

Maybe that's why Proverbs doesn't say, “Understand the Lord with all your heart.” It says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.”

There's a difference.

Sometimes we want to understand first and we say: “God, show me how this is going to work, and then I'll trust You.” But trusting Him means being able to say, “God, I don't understand how this is going to work, but I'm going with You anyway.”

That's the invitation in Proverbs 3. Trust Him when you understand and when you don't. Keep Him in every part of your life, and let Him take care of the path.

You don't need to understand every turn. But when the road stops making sense, you do need to decide who you're going to trust. Because the real test of trust isn't when God's way makes sense. It's when it doesn't, and you still choose Him.

✝ Kingdom Mantra

Has there ever been a time when God's way didn't make sense at first, but made sense later? Hit reply to this email or drop a comment below if you are reading this on our website. I would love to hear your story. God bless you and do have a great weekend. ❤️