Life is a Matter of Trust
Proverbs 3:5-6
Introduction
We place our trust in all sorts of things on a daily basis. If you have something on your calendar tomorrow, you are trusting that you will still be alive. Each day we trust that we are going to have power. We place a certain amount of trust in our families and our friends. We place trust in our public services such as the Post Office to deliver the mail, our police departments to catch criminals and our military to protect our nation. We place our trust in many different types of things or people. What do these all have in common? Sometimes these things or services fail or cannot fulfill every need.
Last year at this time our power had failed because of the hurricane that ripped through our area. Our families sometimes have let us down. There have been times when the Post office has lost pieces of mail. There are times when the police cannot catch every criminal, even though they want to. There are times when our military cannot fully protect us.
We have all felt the disastrous effects of days when our trust has failed us within our families, friends, or even the church. There will be times in our lives when confidences are broken, tears are shed, feelings are hurt and trust gets damaged.
All of this leads me to an extremely important question: who or what can you genuinely trust?
Tonight I want us to learn four important lessons about trust.
Read Scriptures: Proverbs 3:5-6
I. Trust is a heart issue
Vs. 5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart”
There is no possible way for us to say we trust God and not allow Him to have our heart. God must have our heart to truly, have our trust. Many times, we say that we trust God but deep down we really don’t. We give Him a lot of spiritual lip service and move on with our lives. We just keep on doing our own thing and expect God to bless it. Let me ask a question: Is this, really the kind of people we want to be?
Why is the heart so important? What makes the heart so crucial to trust issues? In our society, we look at the heart as the place of emotions or desire. I have often heard people say: my heart isn’t in it, when they don’t want to do something. We automatically apply our context to the Bible and think it fits.
When we see here that trust is a matter of the heart we tend to be drawn toward the emotional end of things. The Old Testament looks at the heart differently. When Solomon writes here, it has little to do with about emotions. Why do I say this? Emotions are fickle and they will often let you down. Emotions can change in split seconds. Have you ever seen someone go from being fairly calm to boiling over? Emotions fail us and we lose our sense of direction in life.
When Solomon speaks about the heart, he is referring to the core of the human life. The heart was the center of everything. The heart is the essence of all we are as human beings. When Solomon says to trust God with all of your heart, he is saying trust God with all of your life, all of your possessions, all of your being and all that you will become. If we are honest, many times, our trust in God falls far short of this standard. When Solomon speaks about trust he is talking about the whole deal. All means exactly that all, not some, not parts, not a little but everything. The truth is that we either trust God with all or not at all.
II. Trust moves beyond our understanding
Vs. 5 “and lean not on your own understanding;”
One of the great truths of life is that there are times when life just doesn’t make sense. We have all experienced times in life when experience defies logic and leaves us with a complete lack of understanding.
Life can absolutely be beyond our ability to comprehend and beyond our ability to control. Trust means that you lean on God at all times, in all situations and in every possible way. Life is never fair, never totally free of pain and never beyond difficulties.
Do you think Abraham understood why he was promises numberless descendants when he had no son? Do you think that Joseph understood why he was sold into slavery by his brothers? Do you think that Daniel understood why he had to spend the night in the lion’s den? Do you think Paul understood why he was stoned, beaten and shipwrecked? Life doesn’t make sense but God makes sense out of life.
Trust in God is not just something we talk about in church and move on. Trust in God is the only thing that gets us through where the rubber meets the road. It is in those days when life defies our logic. In those days when life just does not make any sense. These are the times, which we need to trust God the most. We need to trust God when life just gets tough because if we don’t trust him the tough stuff, we don’t trust Him at all.
Trust is not about logic, it is a matter of faith. We may go through hard times, we may have days filled with heart ache and pain, we may have days when life is beyond our control. Life is never beyond God’s control. When we lean on our own understanding, we gain only what we can do for ourselves. When we lean on God, we gain His limitless resources.
III. Trust must acknowledge God’s presence
Vs. 6 “in all your ways acknowledge him”
There have been more than a few days, when I have clung to the promise that God will never leave us or forsake us. God made the promise that He would always be with us. When God makes a promise, He keeps it! If God never leaves us, we can trust Him in every situation and in every trial. God always comes through in every problem and every trail, even when we barely get through. The power and presence of God gets us through the tough stuff of life.
One of my favorite verses of scripture is in Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”
If someone believes that they don’t need God, why should he do anything for them. If they have the attitude that they are going to live life on their own, God will let them. The best things that God has to offer us don’t come until we say I need you God. The power does not come until we confess that we need it. God seldom breaks into the lives of those who will not trust Him. God seldom accomplishes great things in the lives of those who refuse to trust Him.
Before we can live in a lifestyle of trust, we must acknowledge our deep need for God. Without admitting that we need God, we rob ourselves of His presence, His provision, and His power. Trusting God is a choice, and we make it every day in the way we live and in the way we acknowledge Him.
IV. Trust follows the path God lays out
Vs. 6 “and he will make your paths straight.”
There is an old saying “Do not follow where the path may lead but go where there is no path and blaze a trail.” God does not need or want you to blaze His trail. He is the original trailblazer and He lays out the path for life. God’s desire for you is to find His trial and follow it with all of your being, all the days you draw breath.
We do not make our own path but we follow the one that God lays out for our lives. God is the one who sets the path for life and either we follow it or we don’t. Life is just that simple. Our problem is that we get too busy trying to blaze the trial, chart the course and plan out every detail of life, that we leave God out of the picture. I would rather walk the path of pain and suffering with God than walk the path of pleasure and success without Him.
Life is a lot like an elevator, it only goes, up or down. Each day you make a choice to either go up in your relationship with God or to go down in your relationship with God. Do you know what the buttons are on that trust elevator? Trust God (up) or trust myself (down).
One of the best things about following god is that He never messes up the directions. He never sends us the wrong way, even though it may feel like it. He never leads us the wrong way. Who or what is leading your life today?
Conclusion
Today, have you given your whole heart to the God of creation? Today, does your heart belong to the Lord of life? Today, do you acknowledge the fact that you need God? Today, are you following the path that God lays out for you? Today, can you honestly say to God I’m yours?
