Trust Fall!
Proverbs 3:5-8
Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
There are A LOT of things I don’t understand: Why people buy vowels on Wheel of Fortune. Why my husband puts sprinkles on Macaroni and Cheese. Why people always think the grass is greener on the other side, but forget it still has to be mowed (or it’s fake). How airplanes stay in the air, or how they calculate weight with luggage and people. How women with super long nails function. How I haven’t won the lottery yet (ok - I actually understand that one...it’s because I don’t play the lottery!).
Proverbs 3:5-8
Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
To trust means to have a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.
The Proverb tells us to TRUST in the Lord. This means we are to believe in His reliability. God is constant - He does what He says he will do.
Truth means lacking falseness or the opposite of lies. God’s “Yes” is yes, and His “No” is no (Matthew 5:37).
Ability is the means or skill to do something. Not only CAN God act, He WILL (Luke 1:37).
Strength is the capacity of an object or substance to withstand great force or pressure. Jesus has wide, strong shoulders - strong enough to stretch out on the cross. He can carry our burdens, too (Matthew 11:9). I read this quote once, and I always think of it when I’m struggling: “Give your troubles to God - He’ll be up all night anyway.”
Proverbs 3:5-8
Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
To submit to God means we give authority to Him over our lives. That’s the easy definition, but it doesn’t help me much with the things I don’t understand. As a logical thinker, I always see 1 + 1 = 2. You need a job + you get a job = you thank God. You need healing + you get healing = you thank God. But what if…you want to have kids + you can’t have kids = ???? Or, You’re driving safely + you get hit by a car driven by a driver who is texting and now you’re paralyzed = ???? How do we submit to God (give him authority and control) and then thank Him for the hard things?
An alternate definition of submit is: Subject to a particular process, treatment, or condition. So, there’s another way of looking at submitting to God.
God has a plan; He’s always had a plan, and every plan has a process. During this process, resources have to undergo treatments to be most effective and conditions have to be met for optimal success. If we truly trust God and submit to Him, then we have to focus on knowing the path He’s laid out for us that leads directly to Him, has a specific process that includes specific treatments or resources (good and bad), and specific conditions (good and bad) to optimize success.
To be clear, I am not saying any of this is easy. It 100% is NOT EASY. For some of us, it may even be a daily struggle to see the hand of God working in the hard, scary, frustrating, and bad parts or experiences in our lives. It’s hard to have the faith of Job when we don’t understand why things are happening to us. But if we step back and look at the complete picture, we can see how, “[I]n all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,” (Romans 8:28).
The Loom of Time
-author unknown
Man’s life is laid in the Loom of Time
To a pattern he does not see
While the weavers work and the shuttles fly
Till the dawn of eternity.
Some shuttles are filled with silver threads
And some with threads of gold
While often but the darker hues are all that they may hold.
But the weaver watches with skillful eye
Each shuttle fly to and fro
And sees the pattern so deftly wrought
As the loom moves sure and slow.
God surely planned the pattern
Each thread, the dark and fair,
Is chosen by his master skill
And placed in the web with care.
God only knows its beauty
And guides the shuttles which hold
The threads so unattractive
As well as the threads of gold.
Not til each loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God reveal the pattern
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads were as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
For the pattern which He planned.
There are so many things I don’t understand…but then again, I think I’m not supposed to. As Hamlet tells Horatio in Hamlet by William Shakespeare, “There are more things in heaven and earth Horatio than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
God is always working and moving on our behalf even when, or perhaps ESPECIALLY when, we can’t see it. This is the trust the Proverb speaks about.
Perhaps we can learn to let go of our need to understand the ways of God which are incomprehensible to us (Isaiah 55:8) and trust and submit the way Proverbs 3:5-8 tells us to. One day, when we are welcomed into heaven and the presence of God, we will see our tapestry and then we will understand as God understands - that is His promise to us. In the meantime, here is the stamp of adventure God has placed on our ride with Jesus at our wheel:
“‘However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ the things God has prepared for those who love him,” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
I’m ready - are you?
AMEN
