Introduction

Have you every felt like it’s hard to trust in God?

As you’re proceeding in the various journeys of this life, have you ever felt like it’s hard to trust in God? You started your journey under His guidance - whether a big journey, or a small one. You’ve enrolled at DTS and you’ve definitely started a big journey in your life. This semester alone has been a journey in itself. You’re maybe on the journey of finding a life partner or the journey of building a family (that’s a big one!); you’re on a financial journey where you need to take the monthly steps of making a payment (I think we’re all on this one).

We are all taking various journeys right at this time in our lives and we all want to make it to the destination: we want to finish well our program at DTS, we want to finish the monthly payments, we want to finally find a life partner, we want to finish the journey of this semester, and make it to the winter break.

But then, haven’t you find it true that often times as you are in the middle of your journey, things start to get tough? You’re on the journey, you’ve walked some good miles down the path but as you are walking you encounter obstacles on your way. It’s hard to move on, it’s hard to trust that you’ll make it to the end. When we are in the middle of the semester, when we are some months down the road with the monthly payments, when we’re half the way through keeping a hard and long time commitment… it get’s tough! We start to get tired and weary… we’re not sure if we’ll ever make it to our destination safely, doubts make way to our hearts and it starts to be hard to trust in God. “Lord, you know it’s getting hard down here!” we cry out in your moments of despair; “the journey has gotten tough!”

Why would you keep on trusting in God when the journey has gotten tough? WHY TRUST IN GOD? This is my subject today.

WHY TRUST IN GOD?

I will let Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, answer that question for us today, through two of his great proverbs.

You will first see an exegetical truth that applied specifically to the Israelites in the Old Testament, then you will see the same truth stated as a universal principle applicable to God’s people of all times, and finally you will see the same truth applied to all of us today in our specific situations.

• First, we learn that WHEN THE ISRAELITES WERE GOING TO TRUST IN GOD, GOD WAS GOING TO BRING THEM TO THEIR DESTINATION. When the Israelites were going to trust in God, God was going to bring them to their destination.

Let’s turn to Proverbs 3:5-6 and see this truth together. Proverbs 3:5-6.

In 4 lines of Hebrew poetry, Solomon is giving several commands to his sons and he is also making a concluding observation. The commands are in the first 3 lines; see the imperatives? “Trust,” “do not lean,” and “acknowledge.” I believe the first one lies at the heart of these commands. “Trust” is the imperative that controls the other two. Look at the text! The way I read these commands is that while the Israelites were to trust in the Lord, they were not to lean on their own understanding; while they were to trust in the Lord they were to acknowledge Him as well. So, Solomon’s overall command is: trust in the Lord!

Then in the last line, we have Solomon’s observation: “And He [God] will make your paths straight” (v.6). So this is how the exegetical truth comes together: when the Israelites were going to trust in God (that’s the first 3 lines), God was going to bring them to their destination (that’s the last line)

Let’s try to understand it a little better! Please observe that the Israelites were to trust in God not in human wisdom. In verse 5, Solomon says “Trust in the LORD will all your heart/ and do not lean on your own understanding.” When they were in the middle of an impossible situation they were not to “lean upon” (I love that image – think about leaning on something for support so that you would not fall), they were not to lean upon, not to depend, or not to trust in their own wisdom, but in God.

As they were doing this, the Israelites were to walk through life knowing God personally. I think this is the meaning of verse 5 when it says “in all your ways acknowledge Him.” In all their ways, in all the areas of their life, they were to acknowledge God, recognize Him, know Him. In all they did! This would have been a personal knowledge… Just think about it: as they were going into battles, they were to know and trust God. As they were moving on conquering the land, they were to know and trust God, as the harvest was approaching, or as one was trying to build a family and have kids… in the day to day life, they were to know and trust God!

THEN – look at the last words of the passage – God was going to bring them to their destination. God was going to make their path straight and smooth. The image here is that of walking on a path and God is straightening your way by removing any obstacle; as you move on He brings you to your destination… he gives you success in what your are doing… He helps you reach your target. Remember how God made Israel’s path straight through the Red Sea. Imagine how He removed the huge obstacle from their way so they could move on, with walls of waters on their sides! In the middle of an impossible situation, He intervened and took them to their destination on a dry land. What a great image!

When the Israelites where going to trust in God, God was going to bring them to their destination. That is the exegetical truth, the truth as it applied to Israel in those times. What about the theological truth – a truth that is universally and always true?

• Here it is: WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE TRUST IN GOD AND KNOW HIM PERSONALLY, GOD BRINGS THEM TO THEIR DESTINATION. When God’s people trust in God and know Him personally, God brings them to their destination.

“Now wait a minute”, you might say, “Does it really work like that all the time?” “Not like a magic formula, it doesn’t!” I know there are times when it seems like people who trust God and know him don’t reaching their destination, whether that is material success, a missionary carrier, or something else. But, I think that happens when God chooses to work in a particular way with his people. He might be refining their faith, or disciplining them or doing something else. But this doesn’t mean that the truth that we have clearly seen in the Word of God is not valid. Even if there are exceptions…When God’s people trust in God and know Him personally, God brings them to their various destinations.

There are so many who can testify about this truth from their own personal walk with God! People who look back and speak from their life of faith and are such an encouragement for us. They sound as people who really know God personally… of course, they do! Many have walked with Him longer than my entire life! And the more they knew God through personal experience in the day to day life, the more they trusted Him and walked with Him.

You know people like this, don’t you? What happens to them many times? God honors their faith and makes their paths straight… he brings them to their destination. Remember Abraham. He had an amazing journey with God; this hero of faith came to know God more and more as he walked with Him towards the promise land. And as he walked with the Lord, the Lord brought Abraham to his destination, he took him to the land of Canaan.

Remember Apostle Paul! Remember how he also knew God personally… from the moment God appeared to Him on the road to Damascus, Paul followed Christ for the rest of his life… in good times and in bad times, in blessings and in persecutions. Remember his last trip to Rome. You know the story! Picture yourself on that boat in the middle of a raging sea with the wind powerfully blowing, and the waives surrounding you. Remember Paul’s trust in God; he trusted in God not only for himself but also for the lives of all the other dozens people on that boat. What happened? God honored his faith and brought them all safe to their destination.

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