Trust in the Lord with all your heart. What is the meaning of this verse?
When we put it together with the next verse, it reads like this:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and He will direct your paths.”
It means that we’re to fully rely on the Lord’s providence and promises toward us, while trusting that He will direct our paths.
Let’s do a detailed breakdown of each important section in Proverbs 3:5-6:
“Trust in the Lord”
We have the tendency to put our trust in a lot of things, whether material or not.
We trust our car that it’ll get us from point A to point B when we get behind the wheel. We trust the dentist that by his expert care we will keep all of our teeth.
And so forth and so on.
But this verse is crystal clear as to Whom we should put our trust in, first and foremost.
We’re to put our whole trust in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior who came as God in the flesh to provide the ultimate sacrifice for our sins so that we may have everlasting life through Him (John 3:16 ESV).
He is sovereign, all-powerful and able. He meets our needs, blesses us daily and in Him there is no variation, no shadow of turning. (James 1:17 ESV).
He is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
Can you say the same for you or anyone/anything else?
“With all your heart”
Notice that this verse places the emphasis on putting our complete trust in God.
Not half-heartedly, but with ALL your heart. This implies giving the Lord all our conscious trust.
It’s a type of child-like trust in the Lord’s grace, sovereignty, love and faithfulness.
Putting only a bit of your trust in Him and spreading some of the remaining trust in other things doesn’t work.
Remember that we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24 ESV). You either trust God with all your heart or you don’t.
“Lean not on your own understanding”
If we trust the Lord with all our heart, then we’ll prioritize His understanding and wisdom over ours.
The Bible clearly lets us know that we shouldn’t trust in our own understanding as it’s brutally flawed.
Trying to be self-sufficient and doing whatever seems right to you is what brought sin into this world.
Adam and Eve thought they knew better and they decided to lean on their own understanding about what’s right and wrong.
And we all know what happened next.
Thus, only a fool would aim to live independently of God, instead of disregarding his own understanding and depending on God’s directing and overruling providence.
This is not blind faith. In fact, it is an informed, intelligent wide-eyed faith. It’s a Hebrews 11 kind of faith -the faith of heroes.
“In all your ways acknowledge Him”
Again, we encounter the word “all”. We’re not to acknowledge God only on some occasions, but we’re to do so in ALL our ways.
This includes everything we do as part of our daily lives. This means honoring and acknowledging the Lord in both our happy moments and difficult moments.
Because He’s worthy of all praise and honor.
“And He will make your paths straight”
This is the last part of Proverbs 3:5-6 and in essence it’s God’s promise toward those who trust Him with all their hearts and acknowledge Him in all their ways.
When we do this, the Lord will direct our paths to fulfill His perfect plan and will.
If your heart doesn’t fully trust the Lord, then you won’t acknowledge Him at all times, meaning that your paths won’t be made straight.
It’s like a domino – one piece falls down and the others follow suit.
Only when we put our trust in God, lean not in our own understanding and acknowledge Him can we be certain that He is the one that directs our paths.
Practical Ways to Trust God with all Your Heart
Trusting God with all your heart might sound easy, but many can find it difficult to maintain this, especially during rough times.
That’s why you can implement these easy methods for completely putting your trust in the Lord as part of your daily life:
1. Make God the Main Priority in Your Life
The society that we live in tends to put the emphasis on personal pleasure and materialism. This means that it’s easy to mess up our list of priorities.
And what should our number one priority be if we’re to trust God with all our heart? It should be Him!
By doing so you’ll be able to acknowledge Him in everything you do. We’ll realize that we can fully depend on the Lord because He is able to provide.
Forget about your daily worries related to money, food, clothes and whatnot.
The Lord knows that we need those things (Matthew 6:31-32 ESV) and you’ll be confident that He will provide if He is your main priority.
2. Pray to God to Increase Your Trust in Him
The Lord knows what’s on our heart and He knows about your struggles, including not trusting Him enough.
But God wants us to have a closer relationship with Him and He will help if you ask him in prayer with a sincere heart.
So get on your knees right away and ask the Lord of Hosts to help you fully trust Him in everything you do.
Remember that Scripture shows us that if we ask, it will be given to us (Matthew 7:7-8 ESV).
3. Realize that God is in Control of All Things
Do you think that there’s anything out there that the Lord can’t do for you?
Do you worry about what you’ll eat tomorrow because you don’t completely trust that the Lord will provide?
The sooner you realize that God is sovereign the better.
He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He spoke everything into existence.
If we as sinners (because we all are) know how to give good things to our kids, then how much more will our Heavenly Father provide for us if we ask Him? (Matthew 7:11 ESV).
4. Study the Living Word of God with Intent
God gave us His written word for our own benefit and so that we may get to know Him better.
In fact, the Bible is so much more than just a compilation of books. It’s a God-breathed tool that the man of God needs to be complete and equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16 ESV).
Also, note what the writer of Hebrews says:
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 ESV
Reading Scripture with intent will help you get to know God better as more of His character will be revealed to you.
You’ll learn how people like Job trusted the Lord at all times, even when they lost everything.
This sure takes a lot of faith, but diving into the Bible will help you realize that it’d be foolish NOT to trust in Jesus every single second.
As you read, you might come across verses that tell us the Evil One who steals and kills and destroys owes us restitution of many times what he took. (Proverbs 6:30-31) Many who have trusted the Lord have seen these promises fulfilled in their lives.
Others may not see the full restitution until they enter eternity. But they will see it.
5. Start Displaying Your Trust in God
The only logical step after you’re certain that God is to be trusted and that He is able, is to start acting on it by obeying the Lord in your actions!
Live your life in obedience to our Lord and Savior.
Forget about your daily problems and trust Him that it’ll be alright.
Don’t let any worldly events trouble you and don’t be afraid of anything.
Remember that trusting God means that we don’t live with fear because the Lord didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV).
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The Meaning of Trusting in the Lord
To trust in the Lord means to surrender all your worries and anxiety in the hands of God.
If you trust in His love, wisdom and power you won’t have to worry about anything because you have the confidence that all things work together for good for those who love God (Romans 8:28 ESV).
But how does one start to trust in the Lord?
Simple – by believing that Christ is our only way of salvation. He died on the cross for our collective sins and all that we need to do to be redeemed and have eternal life is to believe in Him (Acts 16:31 ESV).
You believe that Jesus is your Lord and Savior and that you’re saved because of His redemptive work.
This type of trust then translates into your daily life and pretty much everything you do and are involved in.
Final Thoughts
Proverbs 3:5-6 is a truly beautiful piece of Scripture that is very sobering.
It reminds us Who we’re to trust with ALL our heart.
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. God in the flesh. The only begotten Son of God.
Many of us struggle with fully trusting God at all times. But we still trust a lot of things in our lives, although they’re nothing but machinery or flawed and sinful human beings.
You trust your car to get you to where you’re going. You trust the vending machine when you insert coins. You trust that the cashier will give you the correct change.
So… why do you struggle with trusting God with all your heart?
The Lord is able, He will not fail you and He will provide for you. Trust Him.
Don’t let hardship overcome you but remember the following words of Jesus:
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
Trust in the Lord, as in Him you will find rest.
Is your Faith Founded on Fact? Have you committed to follow Jesus?