Trusting God, Pt. 1

My wife Ashley's favorite verse in the Bible is the focal text for our devotion today and the remainder of the week.

Trusting God, Pt. 1

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths."

(Proverbs 3:5-6)

This week, my wife and I will attend a ministry conference in Orlando, FL. I am looking forward to the fellowship and inspiration as we go to the Dunham Summit, hosted by my friend, Trent Dunham. The Dunham Company helps churches and non-profit ministries expand their impact through both innovative and proven strategies. For a few years, Dunham worked directly with our DFEA ministry and helped us grow and expand. I am grateful for this group of very dedicated and talented servants of the Lord.

At the summit, we will be blessed to hear from many on the Dunham team as well as Levi Lusko, Tasha Layton (one of my favorite Contemporary Christian artists), and Carey Nieuwhof. I have listened to many of Nieuwhof's podcast episodes, read his book At Your Best, and have learned much from him over the years. I look forward to actually meeting him for the first time.

My wife Ashley's favorite verse in the Bible is the focal text for our devotion today and the remainder of the week. It is a very familiar verse that many reading the devotion today have committed to memory. I want us to take a deeper look at what Solomon wrote nearly 3,000 years ago and how it is applicable today to everyone who reads and acts upon it.

We are commanded by God to trust in Him, the LORD, the eternal God who was, is, and will forever be, the Almighty God. We are to have faith in Him and believe in Him at all times. Trust and faith are vital in the beginning of our relationship with God. We are not saved by our works or deeds; we are saved by faith in Jesus, who we cannot see but experience His existence and power through our faith. I think of Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Zig Ziglar liked to say, "Our faith reaches into the eternal, but it denies the daily." That quote has always comforted and also convicted me. He is right. We have faith to believe in God through Christ for salvation, but oftentimes we fail to trust Him on a daily basis. The Apostle Paul put it very succinctly and memorably when he wrote, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Next, notice that Solomon instructs us that we are to trust in God with all our hearts. We are to be all-in when it comes to believing God's promises. There is no room for half-hearted faith; rather, we must be all-in. Trusting God with all our hearts speaks to us of the proper extent of our faith. We are to trust in God with all our being for all things. Again, we do this in salvation, but over time, most of us start to not trust God as much for certain things. Here is how we can know that we are not trusting in God fully: we begin to lean on our own understanding and not the understanding and wisdom of the Lord.

How well are you walking by faith? Are you trusting God with all your being, even in the hard times? Are you questioning in the dark what God revealed to you in the light? I encourage you to trust Jesus! More tomorrow on trusting God with all our hearts.