In God We Must Trust

In God We Must Trust

Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

When I think of this subject, I cannot help but think of the parental nature of our Lord. Courtney has always been the type of child that likes to do everything on her own. And as her "Uncle J.J." I often observe her actions. There has been times, I have tried to help her, and she would not let me. Times that I knew, I could’ve helped her. But some other times stand out in my mind, when Courtney would struggle with something, until she realized that it was too hard for her to comprehend and she would humble herself and ask for the assistance of someone with more knowledge than she.

Our text, taken from the third chapter and fifth verse, of Proverbs reads, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." Trust is mentioned many times in the Bible. In fact the Psalmist said in Psalm 71:5, "O Lord God, thou art my trust." Isaiah said, "God is my salvation; I will trust." Paul wrote in his first epistle to Timothy, chapter 4, verse 10, "we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust n the Living God."

I must say, that I believe one of the hardest things that a person can do is put trust in another individual. If you have noticed, when a baby is born it usually cries for it’s mother. When other people try to hold that little, precious, innocent baby, it cries. This has a lot to do with the baby not knowing who it can trust. The word "trust" (according to the Webster’s Dictionary) means, "to put in the care of another, or believe."

Solomon is saying to us in our text, "Trust in the Lord." I can’t think of any greater or more reliable person to put my trust in, then the Lord. In order for one to be entrusted, one must first be counted trustworthy. Thank God that we have his Word to reflect upon. Let us just examine some of the many reasons why God is worthy of our trust.

The first thing that comes to my mind is the forgiveness of Adam and Eve’s sin. The Bible emphasizes that Adam and Eve feared God, after they disobeyed Him. Genesis 3:8-10, "8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid,"

Noah put his trust in God, and survived the worst storm ever known to man. God proves to us, in His word, time and time again, that He is worthy of our trust. Moses put his trust in God and went through the Red Sea on dry land. Abraham trusted God and his son, Isaac’s life was spared. David trusted God and conquered Goliath. The Apostle Paul trusted in the Lord and survived multiple beatings, stonings, and shipwreck. Jesus trusted God and suffered abuse, beatings, crown of thorns, and finally the cross and was resurrected on the third day and ascended to heaven to sit on the right side of God.

In fact when Stephen was being stoned, Luke wrote in Acts 7:56, "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." I could go on and on, Scripture after Scripture, proclaims that God is trustworthy. Back to the words of our text, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding."

When we trust in the Lord, we must trust with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. Our Lord wants to see our humility. God wants us to know, without Him, we can do nothing. John 15:5, "Without me, ye can do nothing."

We can not fully trust in Him, if we are not willing to first acknowledge our weakness. We must surrender all effort to Him.

How many times do we try to handle our own situations; not wanting to admit our weaknesses. Just like an independent child, we carry the weight and burden because of our pride, instead of surrendering all effort to Him that is able to do far above what we ask. We are sometimes like the little boy I heard about. He went to the candy store with his mother, and while he was there, he got his hand caught in the candy jar. He looked to his mother for help, and she told him to let go of the candy and he would be free. After he wrestled with the candy jar, trying to find a better way to be freed, he let go of the candy and his hand was freed.