Unwavering Trust

Can you believe it? Is it hard to imagine that your day has come? Graduation is one of those things that always feels like it’s so far away… until you’re walking on the stage and getting your diploma. You have arrived! And we are here to say job well done!

I realize most graduation ceremonies have not taken place yet… and I also realize how special this season truly is. Last year… graduates were unable to celebrate in the normal fashion because of the virus that was growing rapidly out of control. This year, thankfully, we are close to being back to normal! School didn’t look or feel quite the same with masks and social distancing… but here you are… ready to move forward into the next chapter of your life.

With graduation comes the inevitable move forward. With graduation comes the closing of one chapter and the beginning of a new one. These are truths that we know and understand. Today I want to talk about HOW you should move forward. In fact, this is something every one of us should take to heart.

We will all experience moments in life when change happens. Maybe it’s a new job, a new marriage, a new child, a new home, a new relationship, a new community, a fresh start, or a new promotion. All of these things signify a change in life as you know it. These kinds of changes take on many forms and sizes… but I pray with each one we will choose the correct way of walking through such change.

I pray that when old chapters close and new ones open… that we will trust in God to lead us through.

My message title today is Unwavering trust - trust that will never fail or fall short. And it makes a BIG difference in whom we place such trust.

Our main passage comes out of Proverbs 3:5-6. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

I first learned of this passage while sitting at the breakfast table with my grandfather. I wasn’t a believer at the time, but Papa wanted me to know the Word of God. I didn’t fully understand or appreciate these words until faith entered the picture. Now… I live by these words and can testify to you today that GOD IS WORTHY OF OUR TRUST.

How many times have you placed you trust in someone or something only to have it let you down? It’s a terrible feeling… it’s a moment that, in a sense, can leave you scarred and emotionally wounded. Why?

Because once your trust has been broken… it becomes harder to extend that trust a second time.

But with God… HE WILL NEVER BREAK YOUR TRUST. He will ALWAYS come through. God is not in the habit of breaking His promises. In fact, Scripture says that His promises and yes and Amen meaning you can take them to the bank! The real problem is… many people do not place their full trust in Him… or they do not understand what it means to place their full trust in Him.

Graduates, as you navigate the changes that are ahead… I urge you today to trust God with all your heart. Congregation, as you navigate changes within your lives… I urge you today to trust God with all your heart.

Proverbs 3:5-6 gives the charge to trust God. It then gives instruction on what that trust looks like and then lastly states the results that can be expected. As we have briefly considered the instruction to trust, I want us to look at what that trust looks like and what results we can expect when we fully trust in God.

What Unwavering Trust Looks Like

There are two points given to us in Proverbs regarding what unwavering trust in God looks like. And the first point… might be kind of tricky to overcome. The first point is “lean not on your own understanding.”

First off… what is our own understanding?

Our understanding is made up of all the information we take in regarding our environment, our culture, our circumstance, our experiences, our feelings, our education, etc. All that we take in helps to form our own understanding of how the world works. Thus… when faced with making decisions or when choosing which path to take, our “understanding” kicks in as we work to make the right/best choice.

Here’s the problem. our understanding is limited and… our understanding might even be flawed. GASP!

Example - tree story from college days.

Dead tree in my uncles front yard - our understanding said it was time to cut down the tree.

Access to chain saw - we had the tool we needed.

Knowledge of how to start the chain saw - we knew how to use the tool.

We thought we knew all that was needed to get the job done! Until… all that we thought we knew regarding the size and weight of the tree went right out the door… and almost through my Uncle’s roof!

Here’s the bottom line… no matter how much we might think we know about anything… we don’t know it all! Sometimes things will work out when we go off what we know… but other times our understanding might leave us in a really big mess!

Proverbs 3:5 says that trusting in God with all our heart means that we do not lean on or place our trust in our own understanding. It means we place our trust in GOD’S understanding.

Here’s the thing to remember. God is omniscient which means… God is all knowing. HE KNOWS EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW. His understanding IS COMPLETE. It is not lacking nor is it flawed. When we trust God and seek His direction - we set aside what we think we know and trust in the One that knows all.

Secondly, unwavering trust in God also includes acknowledging or submitting to God IN ALL YOUR WAYS. What does this mean exactly?

All of us have our own “way” of doing things. We all have our own preferences, habits, likes, dislikes, etc. We all have ways that make us happy, or sad, joyful, or angry. What this verse instructs is that in order for our trust to be fully in God, we must submit to Him IN ALL our ways.

I kind of see “our ways” as sort of the path we take to get to what we want. it is the journey we take to get to an intended destination.

I’m sure many of you graduates have in mind where you want to go and what you want to do in the next several years. You have a destination in mind and maybe even a plan of how to get their. I URGE YOU THIS MORNING… make sure you submit to God in ALL your ways. In other words… get to that destination in a way that honors God.

Here’s the key in doing this. In order for our ways to honor God, we must know the ways that honor God! This is not a guessing game as God has laid it all out for us in Scripture… and better yet, gave us the example of what His ways look like through His Son, Jesus Christ.

When a person chooses to fully submit to God in all of their ways, they make the choice to be like Jesus.

If a person chooses to go a way that includes sin to get what they want… they have stopped trusting in God and have compromised their walk of faith. SIN IS NEVER A PATH GOD WILL LEAD YOU TO. There is never an excuse good enough. There is never a reason strong enough. Sinful ways are not submitted ways to the Lord.

God knows the desires of your heart. God has a plan for you! God will lead you and direct you according to that plan so long as you are willing to submit to Him in ALL of your ways… not just some but ALL.

To submit means to accept or yield to a superior force or to the authority or will of another person. So in the case of Proverbs 3:6… it means to make God’s ways YOUR ways. It means to make God’s plan YOUR plan. It means God’s will BECOMES your will.

How many want what GOD wants for your life? This requires that we align our life AND OUR WAYS to His ways. We must submit all to God!

Unwavering trust in God is a trust that has placed our own understanding behind God’s understanding and a trust that submits to God in all our ways.

The two must work together hand in hand. You cannot claim to trust God while leaning on your own understanding. You cannot claim to trust in God but walk according to your own ways. Trusting in God takes YOU out and puts GOD in!

The Results of Unwavering Trust in God.

Our passage lays it out pretty clear here. it simply says that God will make our paths straight.

First, do not miss the promise here. IF we trust in God as instructed, the Lord WILL. This is a promise. This is a guarantee. It doesn’t say God might help you… it says GOD WILL HELP YOU.

Full trust in the Lord places you in the position of hearing and doing according to God’s direction and guidance. It positions you to receive what God has for you.

Without this level of trust… YOU get in the way of what God is wanting to do.

This Scripture promise that God will lead those who trust Him, Go will guide those who trust Him. It DOESN’T say He will make it easy… but the path WILL be straight.

What this means to me is you know where to go. You know what to do. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY… you know who you can trust to get you there!

A straight path is the way of the Lord. A straight path is the way of the Word. A straight path leaves the confusion and chaos of the world behind and embraces the will of the Father.

I wish I could stand up here today and tell you that things are going to be easier. I wish I could stand here today and tell you that everything is going to work out right the first time. I wish I could stand here and tell you that the straight path knows no sorrow, knows no pain, and knows no heartache.

But this I can tell you. GOD WILL BE WITH YOU ON THE STRAIGHT PATH. No matter what you might face in this life… so long as your trust is placed in God… HE WILL GUIDE YOU THROUGH.

I’ll never forget an exercise we did at a couples ministry years ago. Kristy and I were newly weds but we had been best friends in high school, so we knew each other really well.

The exercise was a bit… different. An obstacle course had been laid out in the church lawn. I would be blindfolded and my wife would be behind me leading me and guiding me through the course… and did I mention that I was going to be driving a 4 wheeler?

Kristy gave me some simple instruction. Soft turn meant this and hard turn means that and so on. I COULD NOT SEE A THING… but I fully trusted in the one who was guiding me and… we took to the course without any fear.

No one came close to beating our time. NO ONE. And I can honestly say that at no point was I afraid that I was going to wreck us. I was listening to the voice who could see the whole course ahead.

God sees ALL that is ahead. God sees everything that is in front of you. Each step He leads you to take is setting you up the the ten steps that will follow. HE IS NOT LEADING YOU TO HARM… but He is leading you to a glorious future… if you will trust in Him.

Jeremiah 29:11 reads, “11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Do you trust in His plan? Do you trust in the future He has for you?

Trust in the Lord.

Today we honor you graduates for all that you have done… but I also urge you to trust in the Lord with all that you will do. The greatest choice you can make in this life is to follow God. For in doing so… He becomes the center of your future and dreams.

As one chapter is soon to close and new chapters are beginning to open… I ask you this question… who are you going to trust? Who are you going to submit to? Who’s understanding are you going to lean upon?

God desires to lead you and to guide you not only in your next steps… but in all the steps you will take in your life. In every decision, at ever crossroads, God will be there… will you choose to trust in Him?

Your diploma or degree acknowledges that you have passed the test regarding your education… but your trust in God will be tested almost every day. In those moments… I pray, WE PRAY, that you will seek God and act upon His instruction.

And this is true for all of us today. Our trust in God is tested with every decision we make on a daily basis. Does our record reveal a trust in our own understanding and ways or does it reveal a record of trusting in God?

Do you find yourself on God’s straight path or on the winding and chaotic path of the world? Who is guiding you? Who is leading you? Who is it that you trust?

This morning, if you desire to place your full trust in God, then i want you to stand.

As you stand, I want you to begin to pray. I want you to tell God that you trust Him. And that trust will be proven in the decisions to come… but right now, let’s give God our full trust.

Help us God to not lean on our own ways.

Help us God to submit to You in ALL ways.

And lastly, I want us to pray over these graduates. I want us to pray for God to bless them, to lead them, to guide them, and to fill them with His presence.