How To Trust God

Proverbs 3:5 - 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.

As we continue looking at Solomon’s words on overcoming worry, notice how the following verses build on the central command to trust in the Lord. Trusting God “with all your heart” involves two sides, one thing to avoid and one thing to actively pursue.

Today’s focus is the part we’re told not to do: “Don’t rely on your own understanding”. In the original Hebrew, the word understanding is placed at the very front of the sentence to emphasize its importance: “Your own understanding, don’t rest on it.” This word describes our natural ability to observe, analyze, reason, and reach conclusions. And of course, Scripture doesn’t dismiss that responsibility. We’re expected to research, think carefully, gather wisdom, and make thoughtful plans. God never asks us to ignore logic or jump blindly into decisions. Instead, He calls us to place greater weight on trusting Him. His character, His power, His track record, and His sovereignty should shape every choice we make, even as we use the wisdom he has given us. (Read that again.)

Here’s a picture of this in real life: A young man senses God calling him into full-time ministry and knows he needs to attend a solid seminary for training. He visits the campus, explores housing options, calculates the cost of tuition and living, and even identifies a job that fits his school schedule. But on paper, the numbers simply don’t add up. His income and savings won’t cover it. Still convinced that God has called him, he packs his belongings, moves, and enrolls anyway. Why? Because he trusts God’s provision more than the limitations of what he can see on a spreadsheet. He refuses to delay obedience until every detail is perfectly solved.

To “not lean on your own understanding” means you refuse to let your limited viewpoint dictate your decisions. The word lean is symbolic—meaning to rely on something for support. You can lean on a cane, a railing, or another person to stay upright. Solomon’s message is this: Place your full confidence in God, and don’t depend on your own reasoning, experience, or skill to keep you from falling.

I once knew a man who severely injured himself while skiing and spent weeks relying on crutches. More than once I saw him exhausted at the top of a staircase, palms red and aching from supporting his whole weight on those crutches. He learned quickly that constant leaning is draining.

The same is true when we lean on our own understanding. If you want a guaranteed path to frustration, spend your whole day trying to solve every issue through your own limited insight. Chase every possibility, hit the inevitable dead ends, backtrack, and try a new angle again and again. Eventually you’ll run out of solutions—and strength. And without trust in God, the only thing left to hold onto is worry.

How To Trust God