With All My HeartSample

What Does it Mean to Trust?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. – Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV) 

Most people at some point in their lives deal with fear, anxiety, worry, depression, difficulty forgiving people, doubts about whether their marriage will survive, and trouble understanding why they’ve experienced particular circumstances. These are the kinds of things life in a broken and fallen world consumes us with. But what is uncommon in our world today is for those dealing with these things to actually have peace in their hearts despite their troubles. What is uncommon today is to find people who are dealing with these things, but who are also doing so with hearts at rest. Rest begins with learning to trust in the Lord with all our hearts. 

“Trust in the Lord” 

The verb “trust” means to rely on. And what we are relying on when we trust in something is the character, strength, or truth of the object in question. It’s to place confidence in. So, to trust the Lord is to rely on the character, strength, and truth of who God is. 

The original Hebrew word for trust captured the idea of lying helplessly face downwards. To trust is to give oneself up to the mercy of another. It is vulnerability. It’s to let your guard down. That’s the picture of trust. 

 “With all your heart” 

This description of the composition of our trust helps us to see the nature of it. It is not a half-hearted or begrudging trust. It is with all our hearts. It is with our whole being. It is with everything. 

“And do not lean on your own understanding.” 

When we’re facing troubles, trials, and difficulties, and all the questions about the future that usually accompany them, instead of trusting in the Lord, we often lean only on what we can grasp or understand. Trust means letting God be our source of support, comfort, and peace instead of our minds. 

So much of our trouble in life and worries are rooted in fear about tomorrow. We fear the future. The struggle most of us have is rooted in our lack of control. That kind of sobering truth leads us to deal with the realities of our weakness, helplessness, and powerlessness. Our options are to trust in the Lord or lean on our own understanding. 

Do you trust God will make your paths straight and guide your life according to His good plan for you?  

When you look upon the landscape of your heart and examine your life, do you find that kind of trust in the Lord? 

What do you fear about tomorrow? What would it look like to give that to God? 

When the Lord looks upon the state of your heart, does He discover the heart of one who fully and without compromise trusts in Him?