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Last week: God is in control and his plans are better than anything our plans can conceive.  Now living out that reality is easier said than done.  This where faith finds its place of birth and growth in our lives.  We cut our teeth in faith by learning to trust in the reality of God’s sovereignly designed, fail-proof, and good plans. 

Living in 9 houses in 18 years, there was one constant I could count on being found in each home—Proverbs 3:5-6 being found somewhere on a wall, shelf, or book cabinet. 

Read Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust”- You trust when you place your confidence, belief in, and then ultimately rely on someone else for direction, help, or protection. 

“lean on”- letting go of supporting yourself and trusting in something else to hold you up.

Trust is not realized until you have entrusted yourself to the capability of something or someone else. 

This requires faith— “being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

Verse 5 is the charge or command to trust in God not yourself.

“Understanding” – Our desire to understand can be a barrier to trust. The challenge is to trust someone when your do not understand or is beyond your ability to see.  Our default is to trust ourselves in such a moment.  That is why we often avoid doctors and many times surgeries.  They speak a language we often do not get.  They explain. They teach.  They warn.  Some people just cannot get there.  Most of us do, but we are anxious to the moment we feel that warm sensation going through the IV.  The most difficult moment for me was walking Kyra as an infant to the surgery doors.  They tell us to trust them, and I can see that I should, but I do not fully understand all the ramifications.  I do trust that I love her more than them.  

This is where knowing and growing in that knowledge becomes so crucial.  Trusting God is the same. 

Verse 6- We must acknowledge God in all we do.  Read verse 6 again.

“submit”- not a great translation.  Yada- to know.  To know intimately. To know so well you can finish sentences of the other. To know what they are thinking.  To know what they will do before they do it. You are right there doing it with them.  That is why it is the term most used to describe the intimacy of a healthy husband and wife relationship.  

We are to trust God and lean on his capabilities and we can do this in all that we do by knowing him intimately that we think as he thinks, speak as he speaks, and do as he does.

“straight paths”- This speaks to the removal of obstacles.  When we rely upon God and walk with him intimately, the paths that seem impossible somehow come to fruition because he removed the obstacles.   

Biblical examples of God straightening the paths:

1. The Red Sea- God simply splits. Certainly not considered, discerned, or understood ahead of time.  Exodus 14
   
   
2. The surprise attack by the Moabites, Ammonites, Meunites from the rear. An alliance of nations that the Lord did not allow Israel to divide and conquer on the way to the Promised Land.  Now they have joined together to come against Israel with numbers that eradicated any hope.  They prayed, fasted, and sought the Lord.  They worshipped and went forward only to discover that the Lord caused this alliance to annihilate each other.  2 Chronicles 20:1-25
   
   
3. Man could not fulfill the demands of holiness or pay the debt for sin.  Romans 8 explains while Matthew, Mark, Luke and John tell the story. 

Dad telling the story of him and mom.

Is.6:8-13. Changed the trajectory of our lives not knowing all the decisions, challenges, and directions God would lead us. So many times we had to trust completely in Him rather than trusting in what seemed right for us.

Going when He said go when it didn’t make since in our own thinking.

Hearing people who were criticizing us for what we were doing.

Raising support and not having enough money to cover expenses.

Challenges to trusting God

1. Desire for self-independence and living life my way.
2. When the voice of reason is louder than the voice of God.
3. When the voice of others is valued more than Gods Word.

Living out 3:5-6

1. You can only trust someone to the degree you know them. Allowing the word to show you God’s character, faithfulness. And goodness. Learning to love God more than anything. Learning to have confidence that living for God is the most reasonable thing to do. God will determine what’s right and wrong for me.
2. Put God’s desires at the center of our decision making. God’s ways are not easy to figure out. I once heard it said that if you can explain what’s going on it’s probably not God.
3. Embrace a trust that believes Gods promises are always true. There are going to be a lot of times when we have no answers and we have to trust Him. Nothing we face in this life is beyond what God can do.

Your life is a story. Paul Tripp once said, “Thankfully I’m not the author of my own personal story. My story is a biography of wisdom and grace written by another. Every turn he writes into your story is right. Every twist of the plot is for the best. Every new character or unexpected event is a tool of His grace. Every new chapter advances His purpose.”

My spiritual journey is like book ends. The last book end keeps moving. As long as Im alive, God continues to grow me and write my story. This last year was extremely hard with my accident. But easier to adjust because all I’ve learned throughout my spiritual journey. God continues to teach me trust, patience, and how to wait on Him through the unknown. I’m confident He knows how the story is going to end before I do. He is the author and finisher of my faith. (Heb.12:2). God is faithful and will guide me to the end. I need to keep trusting Him.

Closing:

1. God will remove barriers when we are walking where he is walking.
2. Trust does grow even as the challenges of understanding become more significant.

Song- Give me Faith and Tis’ So Sweet To Trust in Jesus

Benediction

• Let go and lean on God’s abilities.
• Know that He will remove barriers or use them to guide you elsewhere.
• Prayer- Randy