Proverbs 3:5-6, New Living Translation

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

Trust is foundational. To trust, one becomes vulnerable, opening your heart to many possibilities, but expecting good in every situation.  Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world. Humanity was given free will to make the choices they would. Because of the sin nature we are born into and our free will, there are bound to be moments when we hurt one another. We and others have to live with the consequences of our actions. Sometimes, those consequences lead to broken trust.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

Not long ago, I heard a pastor talking about the word “trust” in this scripture. He gave the visual of an infant, in all its vulnerability, with its head leaning upon the chest of the parent. The infant had trust and confidence that they would be supported, safe, and secure. This is the way we are to trust God, our Father.

As I ponder my own life and the word “trust”, I am realizing this is something I need to work on in my own life.” Hurt people– hurt people.” Perhaps it wasn’t intentional, but the damage is done. It changes how we see things, how we feel about things, it even puts up walls to protect. Ultimately, we have two options. We can let what happened make us bitter, or we can trust God, become vulnerable, and allow Him to make us better.

Don’t let the actions of others alter your trust or understanding of who God is. We need to know and understand if something is wrong. It’s not on God’s end- but ours. God will always be good. It is humanity that falls to sin due to their own free will. And with our free will, we must turn to God.

Scripture tells us:

“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” (James 1:17, NLT)

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28, NLT)

So, we see that God has only good things for his children. When we make a mistake, we come to Him and repent, He will use our mistakes for our good. We will have our consequences, like David. “My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.” (Proverbs 3:11-12, NLT) We receive our corrections from our Father. We don’t trust in our ways, but we trust in our Father’s ways. We lean our head against His chest, opening ourselves up and become vulnerable. Unlike humanity, we receive a perfect love from our Father that will cast out every fear.

I pray that we would all come to a place of complete trust in our heavenly Father. I pray that this trust will bring forgiveness, healing, and love. I pray that this trust will bring us to a place of being equipped for the moments we need supernatural strength. Even Jesus said, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Luke 22:42, NLT) This scripture is beautiful because it shows us the human side of our Savior. It also shows Jesus complete trust in our Father for His will to be done. Because His will is better than anything we could come up with on our own. There is no shame in wanting God to change our situation. Please know this, God’s will for your life and for mine is far better than what we can imagine. Those “valley moments”  are where flowers are being grown.