I memorized Proverbs 3:5-6 years ago for Bible Drill, and yet I still forget the truth of that passage sometimes.

When I came to the text yesterday morning, I came with some stress about the future. I’m a planner by nature, preferring to have a game-plan in place before I venture out into the day. I like to have a checklist, a direction, a goal. When I don’t have those things, I can easily shift into worry, frustration, and discomfort. Currently, while I believe I have some general direction about the future, I lack specifics, and, without the specifics, I can’t figure out a complete game-plan, hence my stress.

I’ve written on this topic in an earlier post. In fact, as I went back to review my earlier dealings with this struggle, I found the same two verses at the heart of my approach.

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 straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6

As I read these two verses yesterday, I was reminded of my finitude. No matter how much I speculate, I cannot see the future. Only God knows what my life will look like days, weeks, months, and years from now. These verses call me to trust in his wisdom, aligning my life with his own. Additionally, these verses remind me to stop trying to figure things out apart from him, and to instead trust him with my limitations. Such a charge is a call not to ignorance, but away from it. I am ignorant of the future. I will never know perfectly what lies ahead, so I can never plan perfectly for the days ahead. My plans will always fall short, lacking the foresight only God possesses. To approach the future with my understanding alone is foolish and arrogant. The next verse sums things up nicely as it charges the reader to,

Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
Proverbs 3:7

These verses speak of great truths. They remind us that we see in part, that we are not God and are, thus, dependent upon the Almighty. They remind us that God does indeed direct us, leading us where we need to go as we trust in him. They remind us that a life of walking by faith and not by sight is a life of wisdom, and that a life of walking by sight alone is foolishness. These verses call our hearts back to the foundation of the Lord’s goodness and sovereignty. Let us rest there. Let us trust him when we cannot see. And let us worship the one who has not, and will not, let us go.

Photo cred: Mitchell Martin – Instagram: @mitchellrmartin