Radical Trust

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

                                                            Proverbs 3:5

There are times when our understanding reaches the end of its tether and we find ourselves groping in the darkness of unanswered questions. More often than not these questions are rooted in trouble or tragedy and begin with the word “why”: Why did I lose my job? Why did my friend’s cancer return? Why did that accident happen?

Frequently there are no answers to these questions, at least not ones that satisfy our hearts. Such times, according to the book of Proverbs, are a call to radical trust: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

The book of Proverbs does not underestimate the value of knowledge and understanding. Indeed, it urges us to earnestly seek both. But understanding has its limitations and can be utterly inadequate in time of crisis. It does not bring us peace. God does.

We can live with unanswered whys as long as we know in whom we can trust. Wholehearted trust leans not on its own understanding, but on God's everlasting arms. It's the only way to be  “safe and secure from all alarms.”

We can live with unanswered whys as long as we know in whom we can trust.