Timeless Wisdom: Learning to Trust God | Weekend Sunday Service | Josiah Smith

A message by Pastor Josiah Smith on Proverbs Proverbs 3: 5-8

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Transcript

The Problem With “Just Trust Me”

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Just trust me. You've heard those words before? You've said those words before. Just trust me. Now, sometimes we say that phrase, and if we're being honest, we're being a little bit trite. We're maybe trying to stop a conversation if you're if you've got young kids and they're asking you all kinds of questions. Why this, why that, how, when, where. Sometimes you just say, just trust me, just to end the conversation. Sometimes you say it with more sincerity. Sometimes you say, just trust me, because there's not really a way for the people that you're talking to to have all the information, or at least to have all of the outcomes that we're hoping for, or something that we're planning towards. Sometimes it's not feasible, practical, or possible to give all the information up front. So there's that legitimate thing that you would say as a parent, as a coworker, as a spouse, hey, just just trust me. I know what I'm doing. I know where we're going. I've been here before. I've seen how this happens. I know how this plays out. And so you'll say sincerely, just trust me. Now you know intuitively, and you've experienced yourself that a lack of trust can ruin your relationships in a variety of different ways. A lack of trust, let's just use your spouse as an example. A lack of trust in your spouse is going to lead to a lack of confidence, of course, in your spouse. It's going to lead to a lack of security that you feel in that relationship. It's going to lead to a lack of honestly, intimacy, uh lack of trust can break your relationships. Trust can, in a positive way, make your relationships, or it can break your relationship. So trust can be the difference between confidence and security, or anxiety and uncertainty. And you know this, you've you've experienced this in your friendships, uh, in the relationships that you have with coworkers, people in authority over you. Uh, trust is all the difference. If you have trust for those that are in your life, it can honestly change even the practical experience, even the way that you engage in the relationship, it can be completely night and day different.

Why Trust With God Matters

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Now, the same is true when it comes to your relationship with God. A lack of trust in God can lead to a life of endless anxiety, endless uncertainty, endless lack of confidence. And even that lack of confidence, that uncertainty can lead you towards bitterness or skepticism in your relationship with God. And so trust when it comes to your relationship with God will make all of the difference. It'll make the difference between confidence and short-footedness versus fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. And today, what we're going to see in Proverbs chapter three is an encouragement for you to trust the Lord. Now, again, even in the context of the church, maybe you're even kind of grimacing, hearing a pastor stand on stage saying you need to trust the Lord. You've heard that, I'm sure, a lot, over and over and over again. And of course, there is a way that you can say that somewhat flippantly. Uh, that's not what we're trying to do today. And even though it is somewhat basic, it's very fundamental to what it means to be a Christian, to what it means to even believe in the Bible, to believe in Christ, the gospel, to believe in God is to trust Him. But honestly, sometimes the most basic, simple, fundamental things that you know to be true about your relationship with God are the hardest things for you to actually live. And so that's why we have in Proverbs chapter three a command, a very clear, explicit command to trust the Lord. And I want you to see in Proverbs three the commands to trust the Lord, as basic as that may seem, but also the promises and the blessing that comes when you do so. So if you've

Proverbs 3:5-8 Read Aloud

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got your Bibles, go to Proverbs chapter three. I want to read for us verses five, six, seven, and eight. Some familiar verses, especially verses five and six, but ones that we need to hear. We've been in a series, it's our third week in our study of Proverbs, and I want you to see the fundamental reality that trusting the Lord is and will be and should be to your relationship with Him, and how significant that it will change your, even if I can use this word, experience in your relationship with God. Confidence or anxiety? A sense of knowing where you're going, peace, being at rest, or restlessness and fear. Trust is going to make all the difference. I want to show you that in Proverbs chapter three. Now, as we read this, I want you to notice the commands that are given and the associated promises that couple with them. So just keep that in your mind. Maybe a highlight, circle. I don't know. Some of you've got little, what are they called? Uh you know, highlighter, uh, what's the word when you have a map? A legend, right? There we go. You have a legend in your Bible for circling and and do that if you want to. Uh Proverbs chapter three. Remember the commands and the promises, beginning in verse five. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Now, again, you may struggle and it may feel trite, you may in the conflicts of a church, be tired of hearing people say, Trust in the Lord, but here it is, right in the Bible. So we need to deal with it, and we need to obey it. 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. Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Now

Wholehearted Trust Versus Self-Wisdom

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let's just start with the simple commands that are outlined in verses five and seven. Let's read them again slowly. Verse five says, Trust in the Lord. Now I want you to notice the manner in which you are to trust him. Do you see it there? Trust in the Lord. How? With all your heart. That's that's the expectation. Your whole heart. There's no room for anything else. Your whole heart, your whole mind, even the great command that Jesus talks about. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. That's kind of paralleled here in Proverbs 3:5. Trust in the Lord with everything, with all of your mind, with all of your heart, as difficult as that may seem, and do not lean on your own understanding. These things are opposites, they're antithetical to one another. You either trust in the Lord or you lean on your own understanding, but you cannot do both. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, with everything that you are, and do not lean on your own understanding. That's not where wisdom's found. Verse 7: be not wise in your own eyes. Don't look to yourself for wisdom. Don't look to yourself for knowledge. Where does knowledge and wisdom begin? We talked about that week one, Proverbs 1:7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. So be not wise in your own eyes. That's not where the source of wisdom is. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Now, as basic as these commands seem, as we've already said, they are incredibly difficult on the ground in your everyday life, Monday through Saturday, to actually live and to actually experience what it looks like to trust in the Lord and for Him to make straight your paths and for you to experience refreshment in your bones, it says in verse 8. Can you say that? Can you say that your trust in the Lord makes you feel like you are being refreshed to the core of your being? I mean, that's what it says here. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. So some basic commands that oftentimes are very difficult for us to follow, very difficult for us to pursue. There is any number of barriers that are gonna keep you from doing just these. They're gonna keep you from trusting in the Lord, they're gonna keep you from being um wise by fearing the Lord and turning away from evil. And your responsibility this morning, I want you to think about it this way. Point number

Spotting Barriers In Your Heart

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one, identify the barriers that are gonna keep you from trusting in the Lord. Identify barriers to trusting in the Lord. Now, the reason I want you to identify them, because in Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 7, there are commands, and we recognize that scripture is given for a profitable reason to teach us, to train us, to correct us, so that we may be complete, equipped for every good work. So we need to do what Proverbs 3, 5 through 8 tells us. We need to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts. But we need to recognize in that pursuit, there's going to be difficulty, there's going to be barriers. So we need to think through that and we need to understand what they are so that we can prayerfully, by the Spirit, through His word, overcome them by God's grace. Not in our own strength, not clenching our fists and gritting our teeth, but trusting in the Lord. But we need to identify barriers to trusting in the Lord. Now, there's any number of barriers, and I would challenge you this week, if you would, please just indulge me. This week, I want you to do the heart work, the hard heart work of evaluating the barriers that you most often face when you're seeking to trust the Lord. What keeps you from trusting in the Lord? What makes it difficult? Where do you find your heart grating against that, resisting? Do that work, reflect on that, meditate on that. Because there's innumerable ways that our hearts are prone to not trusting in the Lord. But today I want to give you three. Three barriers to trusting in the Lord that I've seen in ministry as a pastor, I've encountered in counseling or just discipleship relationships, very common barriers that I've seen that lead people to a lack of trust in the Lord rather than doing what Proverbs 3, 5, and 7 say, to trust in the Lord, be not wise in our own eyes, to fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Fear And Anxiety Breed Control

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So here's the first barrier that I thought of fear andor anxiety. Anyone identify with that? You don't need to shout. But fear and anxiety, that is going to be perhaps the most, one of the most common barriers that will lead you away from trusting in the Lord, being given over to fear, being given over to anxiety. And if we're being honest, the way that that's going to manifest itself in your life, perhaps most practically, not always, but most practically, most often in my experience, is when you have fear, when you hang have anxiety, what do you reach for? You reach for control. I want control. I want to control my life, I want to control my spouse, I want to control my kids, I want to control my finances, I want to control the outcomes of every circumstance that I find myself in. Fear and anxiety, uh, if they are present in your heart, what's not far behind is control, a need to hold on to everything in your life that you would consider good and worthwhile with such tight fists that you're white knuckling this because you're so afraid of losing or what you love, or so afraid of something bad happening. That fear, that anxiety that leads to uh this sense of an impulsive need to be in control will undermine and erode your trust in God. 100%. And this is what Jesus says in Matthew 6, 27. We know that this is true of us. We know that anxiety and fear and worry can grip our hearts. Jesus says in Matthew 6.27, which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Of course, the answer is no one. Which of you, by being anxious, by being given over to fear, by uh holding on so tightly to all of the things in your life that you love, maybe very good things, which of you can actually meaningfully add a single span to your life? No one, no one can do that. And here's the reality at the root of trying to take control of your life is a distrust of God. That's what we recognize even throughout the scriptures. Uh, we'll see this in another passage that I'll turn you to in a second. But at the root of trying to take control of our lives is a distrust of God. And whenever we seek to take control, in a sense, think about it this way with me we are accusing God of either not being in control, or he's not doing a very good job with the control that he has. When we functionally are trying to take control of our lives with fear and anxiety, our grip is tight. I mean, functionally, you may not write that down in your journal in that way. You may not think that thought, but functionally, that's what you're saying. God, you're not in control. Or at the very least, I don't like the way that you are utilizing your control in my life. It makes me uncomfortable. I don't trust it. I need to take the reins. That's what anxiety and fear and a pursuit of control can do. We disapprove of the ways that God is choosing to exercise his control. Here's what Psalm 115, verse 3 says our God is in the heavens, he does all that he pleases. Our God is in the heavens, he does all that he pleases. Now, a distrust in God causes us to fashion idols of comfort that are built on this sort of grand delusion that we are the ones that are actually in heaven, doing whatever we please. At least functionally. That's what our heart is longing for. There's a distrust that the way that God is in control, the way that He's choosing to utilize His sovereignty, so to speak, we don't trust that. It makes us uncomfortable, it leads us to fear, it leads us to anxiety, and we reach for control to try to find comfort. We fashion idols of comfort that are built on this sort of grand illusion that we are the ones in heaven doing whatever we please. And we see in the scriptures that's anything but the truth. Our God is in the heavens, He does whatever He pleases. Our God is in the heavens, He possesses all authority, all power, all dominion. He rules. Even if you can think back, if you were with us, when we were in Acts chapter four, and they are facing the church, the earlier church is facing persecution, they're responding with prayer. How do they be open their prayer? Sovereign Lord, maker of heaven and earth, the one who upholds the universe by the word of his power. They recognize that God possesses all authority, all power, all ability. And our distrust in God can create an idol of comfort that leads us to reach for control that's fueled by fear and anxiety. And friends, if that's something that you struggle with in your heart, you need to recognize that the blessings and the promises that are associated with trusting in the Lord will be aloof from you, they'll be far from you. Do you see how it's laid out there in Proverbs 3? Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him. And he is going to do something. He will make straight your paths. If you're not being wise in your own eyes, but rather you're fearing the Lord, verse 7, and turning away from evil, then it will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Now that's available to you. That's a blessing that is told that comes to those who trust in the Lord. But if you don't trust the Lord, if you're constantly overrun with fear and anxiety that leads you to seek control of all the details and circumstances of your life, then the opposite is true. He will not make straight your paths. It will not be healing to your flesh, it will not be refreshing to your bones. This is a barrier you are going to experience if you haven't already or you're not currently in trusting the Lord. We need to identify it so that we can prayerfully seek to overcome it by the Spirit of God, by His grace, through the Word.

Bad Theology Forged By Suffering

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Here's the second barrier that I see to trusting in the Lord. Bad theology. I don't know, Ivy League towers, classrooms, you know, dude bro debates online. I mean, whatever. But that's far from reality. Theology has real-world implications that leads to real-world consequences, for good or for bad. Your theology, what you believe about who God is, about what he does, about his character, will shape your trust in him or hinder your ability to trust in him. Now think about this. Bad theology, you know this experientially, either this has been something true in your own life, or you've seen someone else someone else walk through this. Bad theology is almost always shaped, I shouldn't say almost always, but is commonly shaped in the furnace of suffering. When you experience suffering, when you experience difficulty, circumstances that break your heart, you will find a temptation to develop beliefs about God that are not true. You will find in your mind a temptation to grow bitter towards God, to make accusations against God, to think that God really isn't in control, that he really doesn't possess all power, or if he does, he's doing it in a sort of vindictive kind of way that's not for your good. Bad theology is often forged in in the flames of suffering and difficulty. And it can lead you towards a distrust in the Lord. And not only in suffering, I would say theology is also shaped by our cultural expectations. The churches that you're involved in, the groups that you run in, the friendships that you have, all of those things can can shape your expectations about who God is. Sometimes it's good if those expectations are biblical and they're grounded in the Bible. But sometimes it's anything but good. It's anything but biblical. And your cultural expectations can lead to bad theology, wrong thoughts about who God is that erode your trust in who the Lord truly is. Bad theology can also be shaped and fashioned by a desire, really in your own heart, for a God who is of your own making. A God that feels much more safe, a God that uh does actually work all things for your good, but according to your timetables, according to your preferences, and according to your own thoughts. And so oftentimes, again, in the furnace and the flames of suffering and difficulty, we desire for a God who is of our own making. We want him to do and be what we want him to do and be. And that false God that we can create in our own minds and in our own hearts can lead us towards a distrust in the one true God. Bad theology leads to distrust in the Lord. Or maybe this is you. Bad theology can be shaped and often is uh from hurt that you've experienced in other contexts, in other church contexts, or by other people who bear the name of Christ, who who say they're a follower of Christ. You've experienced some level of hurt, some level of betrayal, some level of whatever. And you develop thoughts, beliefs, convictions about who God is, not based off of who he actually is or what his word says about him, but about how other people interact with you, how other people who bear his name, who claim his name, treat you. And that can lead to bad theology, that leads to a distrust in the Lord, that can fill your life with anxiety, uncertainty, a lack of confidence, worry, uh, anything but what we're seeing in Proverbs 3, where God makes your path straight because you're trusting in Him. This is gonna be a barrier. You need to recognize that what you believe about God will shape your trust in Him. Of course, why do we trust anyone? Because we believe certain things about them, right? We believe their character, we believe what they say is what they mean. We believe that they're telling the truth. We believe that they are someone that's dependable, that's some that's someone who's worthy of our trust. Our belief shapes our trust. Of course, that's the case in all of our relationships. Anyone that we extend trust to. So your theology, your beliefs about who God is, can either enhance your trust in the Lord or hinder your trust in the Lord. You need to recognize that that could be a barrier that you experience in your pursuit of seeking to trust the Lord. Now, one example of this in the Bible of someone who had some wrong theology that ended up being harmful to someone is Job's friends. Perhaps the most classic example. Let me give you just one example Eliphaz in Job chapter four, one of the first to speak up, which is usually not a great idea. Uh, Job 4, verse 7 and 8 says, Remember, this is Eliphaz speaking, who that was innocent. Ever perish. Joke. If you were innocent, this wouldn't be happening to a man. Remember, who was who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? Eliphaz says, as I have seen, you know those people? Well, I uh I have seen those who plow iniquity, sin, sow trouble, they reap the same. Eliphaz says, Well, I have seen that those who plow iniquity and who sow trouble, they reap the same. Of course, you've got the the benefit of having the whole canon of scripture in your lap. So you can go to the Psalms and you can see over and over and over again, why do the wicked prosper? You see that in the scriptures? Why do the righteous suffer while the wicked prospers? You see that all over the scriptures. You see suffering as an integral part of the Christian life. Even Paul talks about you will be glorified with Christ, provided you suffer with Christ. So theologically, what Eliphaz says it's just not true. It's not reality. And because of this, he's he's seeking to undermine Job's trust in the Lord. Now, ultimately, thankfully, he's not successful. Job gets to the place where he says, The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. This is wrong theology that can cause bitterness, that could have caused all kinds of hurt that could have led to a wrong thought about who God is and the ways that He does things, and undermined a real trust in the Lord. That theology can erode your trust in the Lord.

Pride Makes You Self-Reliant

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Here's the third barrier, another more obvious one: pride andor self-reliance. This is going to be a barrier that you will face in your pursuit to trust in the Lord. You're going to be given over to pride in your flesh. In your flesh, you'll be given over to self-reliance. I can do this. I can do this in my own strength, in my own way, my own skill, with my own ability, with my own experience. Well, God gave me the gift, but the gift's mine. Pride and self-reliance, this unhealthy sense of quote-unquote independence from God. As if you had that. In Him, Acts says, You move and breathe and have your have your being. But this unhealthy sense of independence from God. This is literally leaning on your own understanding. This is the opposite of what verse 5 says. You're commanded to trust in the Lord with all your heart. But if you're giving over to pride and self-reliance, then what you're doing is leaning on your own understanding. If you're leaning on your understand your own understanding, that's going to erode your trust in the Lord. So rather than God's power being made perfect in your weakness, you would think the opposite is true. That in your strength, God's power is made perfect. That in your ability, your sense of I can do this, I can bootstrap this, I can put this weight on my back and go at it alone. That's gonna erode your trust in the Lord. Proverbs 3:5 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. Now let's look again at verse 7. It says, Be not wise in your own eyes. So we're talking about pride, self-reliance, a rejection of fearing the Lord. But it says in verse 7, be not wise in your own eyes. Now notice this this is interesting. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. And there's a proper ordering to these things. By fearing the Lord, there's a sort of result that is produced. And fearing the Lord, Proverbs 1 7 says that there's knowledge and wisdom, that's the source of wisdom. But here it says, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. One of the things that's going to be produced in your life through a fear of the Lord is turning away from evil. And the opposite, of course, is true as well. If you don't fear the Lord, if you don't trust the Lord, then you're going to be given over to all kinds of temptations, and you're more likely to give in to those temptations. You're more likely to engage in those sins.

How Distrust Fuels Sin And Temptation

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So point number two, I want you to pinpoint lack of trust as a root cause for sin. Now, not the only root, but a root. Now, I challenged you at the beginning to do the heart work this week of evaluating what the barriers are to trusting the Lord in your own heart. As a part of that evaluation, as a part of your thinking through that, meditating on that, this should be in the equation. Lack of trust as a root for a cause of sin. Because I'll just say this one way to define sin is a lack of trust in God. It's not the only way, but we can see in the scriptures, we'll turn to some passages here in a second. I want to show you this, but in the scriptures, one way to define sin is a lack of trust in the Lord. So I can guarantee you this you lack trust, you rely on yourself. Temptation is right around the corner. Not just temptation, giving into temptation is right around the corner. Sin is crouching at the door. It so easily entangles you. And a lack of trust in God will lead you towards that temptation, ultimately succumbing to it. Now, to kind of build this case, I want to start by just talking about temptation and desire and things like that from James chapter 1, verses 14 and 15. So let's turn there. Let me turn you to a couple places today. James 1, 14 and 15. I want you to see this because I want to build a cumulative case from the scriptures. This definition of sin being a lack of trust in God. Don't take my word for it. I want you to see it in the scriptures. Hopefully it'll be plain to you. But James 1, verse 14 says, But each person is tempted. So if the question is, how does someone get tempted? What tempts them? Well, James is answering that. When each person is tempted, when he is lured and enticed by his own desire, then desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin when it is fully grown, brings forth death. So James is saying that your desire aimed in a particular direction, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin when it is fully grown, brings forth death. So sin is connected to your desires. Even later on in James, what causes fights, what causes quarrels among you? Is it not your passions that are at war within you? But your desires aimed in a particular direction, lead you towards temptation that when fully conceived, give birth to sin, which leads to death. That's sort of the formula. And there are two things, I would say, broadly speaking, that are that desire is typically aimed at. The desires in your heart, the most basic longings. Your desires are typically aimed at two things, and they're they're questions. What is true and what will satisfy. I mean, think about that. Why do you do anything that you do? Because there's parts of you in your heart that believes that what you're doing, what you're pursuing is true. And we believe and we know intuitively that truth, usually something that we think is going to be meaningful, worthwhile, something stable. And so we pursue it. We long for it. What is true? But not just what is true, we also long for what will satisfy. What's going to make me content? What's going to give me a soul-quenching uh reality, something that's going to bring a contentment beyond the circumstances of this life. So your desire is aimed at what is true and what is satisfying. And we often sin or give into temptation because we don't believe what God has said in his word is true. And we don't believe that God can truly satisfy. Your lack of trust in what God has said in his word, that it is good, that it is necessary, that as Proverbs or Psalm 19 says, the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. You don't believe that. You don't believe that what God has said in his word is true, and you don't trust that God can truly satisfy. And as a result, your desire, when it is conceived, it gives birth to sin. Then sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. And I want to show you this connection in another passage. So turn to Psalm 78. Psalm 78, because again, I want to show you that this definition of sin being a lack of trust in God is firmly rooted in the scripture. Psalm 78. Now, some background on this Psalm. This is a kind of a recounting of Israel's history. There's several Psalms that are in that category. It's a recounting of Israel's history, most especially the Exodus event in the book of Exodus. And it's going back and forth, kind of talking about what God did, how he delivered them, what miracles he performed, and their response. So let's pick it up in verse 21, Psalm 78, verse 21. If you're there with me, it says, Therefore, again, the context of this, God, it's a reflection of Israel's history and Israel's response to God's dealings, his workings, his miracles, his provision. Therefore, when the Lord heard of their grumbling, their complaining, their disobedience, he was full of wrath. Rightfully so. A fire was kindled against Jacob. His anger rose against Israel. Now, this is where we see it, verse 22. Because why was he angry? Because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power. Do you see the connection? They sin, they grumble, they complain, God's angry. Why? Verse 22, because they did not believe, they did not trust. So the psalmist is connecting a lack of trust in God to their sinful disobedience. That's exactly what this psalm is saying. Even skip down to uh verse 32. It continues, it kind of lays out all that God does again in verse 32. It picks it up and says, In spite of all this, they still sinned, despite his wonders, despite what he did, what he accomplished, how he provided for them. It says, They did not believe, they did not trust in God. Goes on in verse 41 and says, They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe, when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the fields of Zoan. They did not trust, they did not believe, therefore they disobeyed. That's the connection that we're seeing in Psalm 78. And what we're recognizing is that a lack of trust in God isn't simply an internal struggle. It's not just somebody that you wrestle with. We all recognize I don't trust the Lord like I should. It's not just somebody that it's an internal struggle, it's a spiritual state of the heart that makes you prone towards giving into temptation. That's what we see in the scripture. Your posture of trust towards the Lord can either lead you away from temptation and sin or lead you towards it if you lack trust in the Lord. They did not believe, they did not trust, they did not believe that what God had said was true, that he would provide, that it'd get them into Canaan. They did not believe that God would truly satisfy. Remember all that in Numbers 14? Let's get a leader for ourselves, let's go back to Egypt. It would have been better. We're going to go into Canaan just so that our kids can die. All of that grumbling, all that complaining, they did not believe what God said. They did not trust his word, they did not believe that he would satisfy them fully. So they wanted other things. They were given over to sin as a result. A lack of trust in God is a spiritual state of your heart that makes you prone towards giving into temptation. You need to recognize that. So, in this, in this analysis of your heart, what's what's a barrier that keeps me from trusting the Lord? You need to recognize that sins that you struggle with in some form or fashion connect back to your trust in the Lord. That should be included in this formula, this thinking. What's going on in my heart? Why did I do that? Why did I say that? Why do I long for that? You should in some part connect your trust in the Lord. Am I trusting what God has said is true? Am I trusting that God alone can satisfy, that God can truly satisfy? That's what Jesus says in John chapter 6, that He's the bread of life. Whoever comes to him will never hunger, whoever believes in him will never thirst. Do I believe that? Do I trust that? Or am I like the Israelites who continue to grumble, who continue to disobey because I don't trust and I don't believe? That's what you need to recognize. A lack of trust in God is a spiritual state of your heart that makes you prone towards giving into temptation. You're called to trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him. In fact, let's look at that

Straight Paths And Deep Refreshment

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again. Proverbs 3. Let's look at verses 6 and 8. We've kind of talked about the commands, trust in the Lord, do not lean, acknowledge him, be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord. Now let's talk about the promises that are associated with those who do that, who submit to what is being said here in Proverbs 3. So in verse 6, it says, In all your ways, in all of your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. See the reality of the promise. Again, it's not going to necessarily be some one-to-one, you obey, and then everything in your life gets easier and every roadblock disappears. That's not what I'm saying, but there is a reality in the scriptures that if you do what God says, you'll be like the person in Psalm 1. You'll be blessed. You'll be like the tree that's planted by rivers of waters. You'll be the person that yields fruit in its season. And all that you do, you prosper, and your leaf will not wither. I mean, that's what we're talking about. That's the wisdom. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, He will make straight your paths. Even verse 8. If you're not wise in your own eyes, but instead fear the Lord and turn away from evil, what's gonna happen? It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Now that's a poetic way of saying holistically, you're gonna experience flourishing your flesh externally. You see my flesh right now, my skin, right? And your bones internally, externally, internally, holistically. The whole person, that's the point. It will be healing to your flesh, refreshing to your bones. You're gonna experience blessing from trusting in the Lord. That's what Proverbs 3 is saying. So point number three, expect that. Expect the Lord to bless your trust in Him. Because trust leads to wisdom and trust leads to flourishing. God calls you to trust and acknowledge Him in everything you do, in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Now, Paul kind of picks up on a similar theme to that reality of all things, because that's difficult, and all of your ways, and everything that you do, acknowledge him. Paul says in Colossians 3:17, and whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord. In all your ways, acknowledge him. Give thanks to God the Father through him. That's the blessing that comes from a life submitted to God, fully trusting in him. Even Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 31, perhaps a verse you know. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. In all of your ways, acknowledge him. Do it all for his glory. And expect the Psalm 1, blessed life, the Proverbs 3, straight path, healing, refreshment. Expect that because God's word says it. Expect that trusting in the Lord will lead to that kind of rich, blessed life, a life of flourishing, because you're giving, you're being given wisdom through the fear of the Lord. And your steps are being established and ordered by your trust in the Lord and his faithfulness to

Growing Trust Through Word And Prayer

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you. Now, how does trust, how do you increase in trust? Of course, we've touched on it a little bit. You increase in trust by what you know about some someone, something. So I would say trust in God increases as your fear of God increases. Or we could put it another way, trust in God increases as your knowledge of God increases. I mean, isn't that verse seven? Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Trust in God increases as your knowledge of God increases. And that's why here at Compass, we're always going on about the Bible. That's why it's central. Because your knowledge increases through the word, and your trust increases through your knowledge. Because trust in God, not anchored by the word of God, will always waver. It's not a steady foundation. I mean, again, I've quoted this before, but Matthew 7, Jesus says, Whoever hears these, he hears these words of mine and does them will be like the wise man who builds his house on a rock, not the sand. We need to hear the word and do the word. Knowledge increases through the word, and your trust of God increases with your knowledge of God. And so a Christian that sets aside his or her Bible is a Christian that's committed to not trusting in the Lord. Because trust increases through your knowledge, knowledge increases through the word. By the way, not just knowledge, right? It's not just a knowledge that puffs up. We don't want to just fill our head with more and more and more theology. We want knowledge that leads to real life change, application, being doers of the word, not hearers only. But nevertheless, we are called to increase and abound more and more in our knowledge. Paul prays for that in Ephesians, he prays for that in Colossians. He wants the people that he loves to grow in their knowledge of Christ, and in so doing, grow in their trust of Christ. Knowledge increases through the word. And that's why we have the lamp and light by reading plan. That's why we do expository preaching. That's why we meet in life groups to talk about God's word, because we believe that God's word will increase our knowledge of God and deepen our trust of God. Because that's what God's word says. And so we want to do that. We want to live that. We want to pursue that. And so I would say if you want to grow in your trust of God, you ought to evaluate how's your time in the word? And if it's non-existent, again, I would say lovingly, you're committed to not trusting the Lord. Because God has spoken in and through his word, and we need to know what it says, to know who he is. And as a result of that, grow in trust of him. And not just, again, not just knowledge of him, but I would say uh intimacy with him, a sense of uh connection, closeness. And I would say what word is to what the word is to knowledge, prayer is to intimacy. Intimacy increases through prayer. And the quality of the intimacy that you experience in your relationship with the Lord will be directly related to the quality of your prayer life. You should wrestle with that. If you want to have this sincere trust in the Lord that's built off of what you know to be true of him through his word, you also need to pursue a deepening affection for him through prayer. The quality of the intimacy that you experience in your relationship with the Lord will be directly related to the quality of your prayer life. And so those two primary disciplines, the word and prayer. I hope it's clear. If you've been here at Compass for any amount of time, that's what we're about. We got a prayer meeting on Wednesday. Would love for you to be there. On Sunday, we spend a lot, a lot of time going through God's word systematically, typically verse by verse. We've been going through Hebrews. We'll get back to that shortly in the fall, because we believe that our knowledge of God shapes our affections for God, which deepens our trust for God. And we want what Proverbs 3 says: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, and all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your path. We want to be refreshed. We want what is said in verse 8. We want that reality, we want that blessing. And how do we get that? Through knowledge that's increased through the word, through intimacy that's increased through prayer. And so if you're someone that is struggling to trust in the Lord, that's your starting place. Get consistent in the word, get consistent in prayer. Those are the tools that God has prescribed for you to grow in holiness, to grow in your trust of the Lord that leads to the path that we're talking about. Trust in the Lord leads to a life of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise wisdom and instruction, but trust in the Lord leads to a life of wisdom. That's what it says in Proverbs 3. He will make straight your path. And it also leads to a life of flourishing, a blessed life. A life, as it says in verse 8, that'll be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Is that a life that you want? I mean, think about that. Healing to your flesh, refreshment to your bones. Holistically, the shape of your life is refreshing and healing because of a trust in the Lord. Is that something that you want? Because it's available to you in and through God's word by the Spirit, applying the truth of God's word to your heart as you respond even with a deep independence on Him through a prayer. Trust in the Lord is the path to wisdom, it's the path to flourishing. And it's rooted, as we said, in the fear of the Lord, knowing who God is according to his word, according to what he has revealed, and responding rightly, with reverence, with trust, with obedience, and with awe. And in so doing, we will be a church, you will be a person that flourishes, that will experience healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. And that's a life that I want. And I know that's a life that you want as well. Let's

Final Prayer And Benediction

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pray. God, thank you so much for your word. Thank you for the reality of your steadfast love and your character that can anchor our trust. God, thank you that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever. You are not shifting with the culture. You are not changing. You are not someone that is unreliable because your character is constantly shifting. God, please help us to trust you, to trust your character, that you are the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. You are someone that is so worthy of our trust. You have proven your faithfulness time and time again. God, I pray that we would be a church that is committed to trusting in you, that we would be a church that experiences the blessings that are associated with that trust, that you would make straight our paths, that you would heal our flesh, you'd bring refreshment to our bones, that that would be something that we could say and that we even collectively collectively can experience together as a community as we seek to submit to your word. Would you help us with that? Would you give us the humility to pursue that? I pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much for joining us today in worship of God. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.