“Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,

and he will make your paths straight” (Prov 3:5-6).

In the first 4-minute devotion in this series, we said that our trust in the Lord during difficult situations, sometimes needs to move from our heads to our hearts. It is one thing to declare our faith in God and meditate on His promises, which are both good things to do during life’s pressures, but it is another to find a heart at peace throughout the ordeal.

We suggested one thing that might help: to think on those of God’s attributes that particularly speak to the human heart. For example, God is kind, and His everlasting kindness is always directed towards us. And God is faithful. God keeps His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments. As spiritual descendants of God’s chosen people through faith in the risen Christ, His faithfulness will always reach to us.

The second instruction in this short proverb is to “lean not on your own understanding”. In other words, look beyond the limits of your thinking and imagination. I have found that simple trust in God during challenging circumstances can be easily killed when I allow my mind to wander. When I think I understand every part of the situation; when I cannot see a way through, when I make assumptions about other people. When I put too much confidence in my own understanding of what is going on.

A friend of mine tells the story of working with a person whose attitude towards him seemed uncaring, rude, and even, at times, hostile. He wondered what he had done to offend him and even became afraid of “saying the wrong thing”. He felt he had to “walk on eggshells” around him. He struggled to come to terms with the thought that a Christian brother would behave like this workmate.

Until, one day, he realised that his partner was displaying some symptoms of a mental health condition. A well-known neurological disorder. The man wasn’t meaning to be rude; his brain was just wired differently. With a little more understanding of the situation, my friend was able to pray for a new perspective and trust God for a way forward.

When we focus only on what we think we know, when we forget to question our assumptions, when we believe we have all the facts (when we don’t), it is easy to lean on our own understanding, instead of trusting God to solve the puzzle from the view He has of the bigger picture.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,

and he will make your paths straight”.

Seeking the Lord for His understanding is so much better than making judgments with only a handful of the facts.