It’s possible to follow the Lord only for what He can do for you. I know because I did it.

As a student I gave my life to Christ. But — and here’s the catch — I did it because I wanted help with problems. I just knew that putting God into my life was going to make things so much better.

Then reality crashed in. Instead of getting better, my problems got worse. And I had a new one. My father didn’t like my new faith. He said I was throwing my life away. I remember the night I told my best friend that “this Christian thing isn’t working. I’m going to try something else.” He threatened to punch me in the face. Now on top of everything else, I had lost a friend.

Fortunately, a much wiser friend led me to these verses from Proverbs. “We live the Christian life not by understanding but by trust,” he said. I was willing to trust God only if I understood what He was doing. I needed simply to trust Him totally.

There’s nothing wrong with trying to understand what God is doing, but really trusting Him goes much deeper. It creates certainty in the midst of confusion. It anchors your life to God’s path.

Learning truly to trust the Lord made all the difference for me then, and it has for fifty years since. It can for you, too.

I don’t always understand what you are doing, Lord, but I will trust you to make my path straight. Amen.

Go Deeper — Is there something you need to trust God about? He can be trusted absolutely, even if you don’t quite grasp His purpose.



Tags: Proverbs Proverbs 3
Photo Credit: Faye Cornish