Trusting God with Our Whole Heart (Proverbs 3:5-6)
By: Anne Peterson
Today's Bible Verse: 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
What a crazy time we’re living in. We collectively struggle with trust.
You hear one thing on the news and change the channel and hear something completely different. So, what are we to do? Where can we turn?
Our verses in Proverbs clearly tell us that we can trust the Lord. And we can trust him with our whole heart. God tells us not to lean on our own understanding, but rather to acknowledge God in all our ways. But, I have to confess, I lean heavily at times on my own understanding. And when I do, I’m soon frustrated, wondering why things don’t seem to work out.
We are all works in progress. I have not arrived. I will still make mistakes and I’ll even blow it royally at times. But I’m so thankful that when I mess up, God invites me to come to him. And I can put my mistakes in his large, capable hands.
Growing up, I struggled with perfectionism. There are times I still wrestle with it. In my family of origin, only perfection was seen. So, I learned pretty early in life whatever I did needed to be perfect. Our dad reinforced this by only seeing what was perfect. Sadly, after a while I watched my brother get so discouraged he stopped trying altogether.
Little did I know that when I went out on my own, that I’d be bringing my baggage with me. Perfectionism was neatly packed in one of my suitcases.
And years later, when I found myself in a counselor’s office, I could finally fess up to this struggle. Do you want to know what helped me the most? It was learning I no longer needed to strive for acceptance. God has already accepted me. He did it when I accepted his Son, Jesus. The only truly perfect one. And Jesus shed his perfect blood for me on the cross when he died. And that blood satisfied the heart of God.
I still blow it sometimes, but God sees me through the blood Jesus shed, and I am forgiven. There is nothing I can do which will lessen God’s love for me and there’s nothing I can do that will make God love me more. Those words bring freedom.
God looks at those who accept Jesus as their Savior and God is pleased. Trusting in the finished work of Calvary takes faith and, we are told without in scripture without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
As new believers we knew God would answer our prayers. God could do anything. But somewhere along the way, we began believing lies from the enemy. Lies like:
God is tired of answering your prayers.
God doesn’t care about you.
God is disappointed in you.
I’m so glad we can drench ourselves in the Word of God and the lies become obvious.
- God doesn’t grow weary (Isaiah 40:28).
- God encourages us to cast our cares on him because he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).
- God does not get disappointed in us because when we do blow it, he removes our transgressions from us (Psalm 102:12).
I’m so glad God gave us his Word so we can meditate on what’s true and denounce the lies. When we are immersed in God’s Word we can love God wholeheartedly. Is there something stopping you from trusting God with your whole heart?
God loves you totally. And you can trust him with your whole heart. Listen to this song, Half of my Heart, by Nathan Peterson. May it bless you as it blesses me.
Let God Carry You
When you can’t take another step,
then let God carry you.
Not only can he lift you up,
He carries burdens, too.
- Anne Peterson
Anne Peterson is a poet, speaker, published author of 16 books, including her latest book, Always There: Finding God's Comfort Through Loss. Anne’s first memoir is: Broken: A story of Abuse, Survival, and Hope. She has published children’s books and poetry books, such as Droplets: Poetry for Those in Grief, and He Whispers: Poetic talks with God. Anne is also a regular contributor to Crosswalk.com. Anne’s poetry has been sold in gift stores since 1996. Check out Anne’s website at www.annepeterson.com or connect with her on Facebook.
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