“Trust in yourself, and you are doomed to disappointment; trust in your friends, and they will die and leave you; trust in reputation, and some slanderous tongue may blast it;  but trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity.”

19th Century American Evangelist Dwight Moody

Great advice.  But not original to the famous preacher of the Gospel.  It’s an expansion of two verses tucked neatly into the book of Proverbs.  If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard Proverbs 3:5-6 a lot:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. 

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But maybe you’re newer to faith and you haven’t heard it as much.  If that’s you, I’m honored to show you a real gem in the Proverbs!

This first command, “trust in the LORD with all heart,” could also be expressed as “run for refuge to Yahveh.”   It seems one of the hardest things to do as a Christian is trust the Lord NO MATTER WHAT.  Yet, the wisdom of Solomon through the Holy Spirit tells us to run to the Lord when we face problems and not run away.  When trouble comes, what’s our instinct?  Run away.  But what are we supposed to do?  Run to.

Our own knowledge is based on limited experience and our own sinfulness and “blind spots.”  The Lord, on the other hand, sees all and is fully aware of the circumstances, permutations, possibilities, and outcome.  Logically, who would you trust?

Flowing from that understand is a willingness to submit to the Lord in all things.  After all, He really does know best and so we can trust Him.  Even when things don’t make sense, we can trust Him.

And how do we learn about Him?  Experience is certainly one way but experience is very limited and highly subjective.  The best way?  Reading and interacting with His word.  It’s often said, “when we know the Word of God better, we will better know the God of the Word.”  Well put!

So the next time you face adversity or a trial, don’t run away—that’s using your limited experience.  Instead, run to your knees.  Read the Word.  Hear His voice.  Don’t lean on your experience.  Lean on His.