By Todd Paetznick, February 22, 2024

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him,  And He will make your paths straight.  (Proverbs 3:5-6 NASB20)

Step 1.   Trusting in the LORD with all of one’s heart will lead to straight paths.  

In what do we put our trust and make into our gods?  Science?  Technology?  Military might?  Wealth?  Experts?  Our world is filled with opportunities to trust things and people in place of God.  Those of us who claim to be Christians fail to recognize that the trust we put in people and things means we are not trusting God with all our hearts.  This is a problem for us.

In the first chapter of the book of Romans, Paul states:

“And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper, [people] having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, [and] evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, [and] malice; [they are] gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, [and] unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them” (Rom 1:28-32 NASB20, emphasis is mine).

A failure to acknowledge God or trust what He considers morally right or wrong results in being “given up”.  Given up to our desires, a “depraved mind,” as the first verse says (v28).  The words “God gave them up” are four of the most frightening words in the Bible.  In essence, this passage in Romans teaches that God will eventually give people what they want, including the natural consequences of their actions.  

Think of God like He is a good person who never forces anyone to do something against their wishes. While the level of freedom found in God not forcing compliance may seem great initially, we also want God to rescue us if things do not turn out as expected.  We cannot have it both ways: there is God’s way, and there is the way that serves our desires.  Choose.  God’s way comes with the promise of rewards and the outcome of straight paths.  Doing things our way results in natural consequences, setbacks, and sometimes disaster.  We may initially be happy with the short-term outcome of our choices and having our desires met, but over the long term, consequences could have been avoided by following God’s way.

Paul follows his previous statement by saying, “And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice [the list of things in the previous passage]. But do you suppose this, you [foolish] person who passes judgment on those who practice such things, and [yet] does them [as well,] that you will escape the judgment of God” (Rom 2:2-3 NASB20)?  Engaging in the things that go against God’s teachings should come with an expectation of judgment — for both the Christian outsider and insider.  Natural consequences and God’s judgment will fall on both.  

In whom or what do we put our trust?  

Trusting that science is always correct and that biblical teachings must fall in line means we are not treating God wholeheartedly.  Trusting that technology will improve the world and eliminate suffering, disease, pain, and even death means we are not trusting God.  Trusting that our wealth can sustain us in difficult times means we are not trusting God.  Relying on experts’ opinions to be better and more authoritative than God’s word means we do not trust that what God says is applicable across time.    

Maybe we trust that the military might of the United States is sufficient so that people can sleep well, confident in their protection from hostile foreign powers.  God ultimately controls the world’s leaders and the military of the nations in His sovereign power.  It is God who provides safety and security, not our guns, tanks, ships, planes, missiles, or highly trained people.  Historically, we can look back over time and see how overconfidence in city walls, military strength, one’s ethnic superiority, and even a supply of natural resources resulted in disaster.  When people trust in the things they thought would protect them, their trust was shattered when God withdrew His hand of protection and a reliance on things, which proved to be insufficient.  

Any of these examples, and there are many more, demonstrate a level of trust in something or someone, which means we are not trusting God as our Lord with our whole hearts.  God can be trusted.  The hard next step for us is examining our decision-making processes, reflecting on our thoughts and actions, and evaluating whether we trust God with our whole hearts or have put something or someone else in God’s place or even partially in God’s place.  

Solomon’s advice: trust the Lord God with your WHOLE heart.