Read Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
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.
In the midst of difficult things in my life, I will admit that verses like today’s can be challenging to live out. My head knows and can recount the stories of God’s faithfulness from the past. His track record is second to none when it comes to life’s difficulties. But my heart doesn’t always jump on board right away.
I know I need to trust God and that He is good. That He has a plan. Yet I struggle when that plan doesn’t make sense to me or when it feels like the plan isn’t going to lessen the stress or the strain. When it doesn’t feel like what a good God would do from where I stand in the midst of it all. And that is where the rub is. I don’t always see the world around me in “big picture” form. I see it from my perspective.
I form opinions and make decisions based on what I think I know and what I think I have learned from my experiences. But my experiences may not be the whole story and they are often filled with emotions that color the way I see the world around me. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Anyway you look at it, my understanding is limited and doesn’t always point me to truth.
But God sees a bigger picture. He sees how you and I, your neighbor, your friend across town, and some guy out in North Dakota all fit into the same picture. I can trust Him because He does see the whole picture. Trusting Him doesn’t mean I throw out all my thoughts, my questions, and my emotions in favor of some mindless, over-spiritualized take on the difficult circumstances I may be facing. But it does change my perspective. The end of today’s verse says: when we trust and submit ourselves to God that He will make our paths straight…it never says easy. Sometimes “straight” is the hardest way to go.
The key is remembering that, even if we only see a small part of the story, God sees and can make sense of it all. He wants us to trust that He knows the best way even when it’s hard.
