Trust in the lord: Proverbs 3

What does it really mean to trust God when life doesn’t make sense? In this first chapter-by-chapter episode, J:3 unpacks Proverbs 3 verse by verse, breaking down the wisdom behind complete dependence on God instead of our own understanding. Through real-life application, biblical context, and honest conversation, discover how God’s wisdom leads to peace, purpose, and direction, even when the road ahead is unclear. If you’ve ever wrestled with doubt, uncertainty, or trying to control everything yourself, this episode is for you.

Transcript

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Concrete Confessions faces what we try to bury like cracked concrete. Truth eventually shows. Hey, hey, hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome back to Concrete Confessions. I appreciate every single person that's been listening, supporting, sharing, praying, and even walking with me during this journey. For real. I mean, this platform started from a place of honesty, a place of growth, struggle, some questions, conviction, and faith. Not perfection, but pursuit. And today I want to start something new. Moving forward, I'm gonna begin doing a series where I sit down and discuss different chapters of the Bible that I've been reading personally. You know, some that challenge me, some that expose me, chapters that strengthen me, chapters that feel less like words on a page and more like God standing directly in front of me saying, Pay attention. And today's chapter, Proverbs 3. To me, this chapter feels like spiritual survival instructions, like a father sitting his child down before sending them into a dangerous world that's filled with pride, confusion, temptation, ego, fear, distractions, fake wisdom, and spiritual traps. And right in the middle of the chapter sits one of the most powerful verses in all of Scripture. Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding. That verse sounds simple until life gets complicated. It sounds easy until your plans collapse, until your prayers feel delayed, until the door you wanted closed in your face, until the relationship falls apart, until money gets tight, until depression hits, until grief enters the room, until God tells you to walk a direction that makes absolutely no sense to your human mind. That's when trust becomes real. Anybody can praise God when life feels like sunlight and open roads, but trust is revealed when heaven feels silent and the road ahead looks foggy. The chapter opens with this. People memorize trends faster than scripture. People hold on to trauma tighter than wisdom. God is saying, don't just hear truth, store it, protect it, carry it. There's a difference between hearing God and building your life on what he said because information alone does not transform people. Application does. That's why Jesus spoke about building your house on solid rock in Matthew 7. The storm came to both houses. The difference was foundation. And Proverbs 3 is all about foundation, not feelings, not hype, not temporary motivation, but foundation. Now we get to the center of everything. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. Let's break that down. Trust means resilience. I mean sorry, sorry. Trust means reliance, dependence, confidence. It means placing your weight onto something fully, not halfway. Not when convenient, not only when life feels good, but with all your heart. And then comes the difficult part. Do not depend on your own understanding. That hits hard because humans naturally worship their own perspective. We trust our emotions. You know that saying uh uh um trust in in your uh gut, our plans, our anger, desires, instincts. We'll trust anxiety before we trust God, trust fear before we trust scripture, we'll trust social media before we trust prayer, but our understanding is limited. God sees the whole map while we're standing on one street corner trying to figure out where life's actually going. Isaiah 55 says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. Think about Abraham. God told him to leave everything familiar and walk toward a promise he couldn't even fully see yet. That takes trust. Think about Noah building an ark before rain had ever even fallen. People probably mocked him every single day, but obedience looked crazy until the flood came. Think about Peter stepping out onto the water. Logic said, You can't walk on water, but faith said, if Jesus called me, yes I can. And for a moment, Peter did the impossible because trust overruled human understanding. Some of us are drowning because we keep choosing logic without surrender. Now hear me carefully. God gave us wisdom and discernment for a reason. This verse isn't saying don't think. It's saying don't idolize your own understanding above God's authority. Because sometimes what God asks you to do will not make sense immediately. Forgive that person doesn't make sense. Stay patient during suffering doesn't make sense. Remain humble when people disrespect you doesn't make sense. Wait on God instead of forcing the situation doesn't make sense. But delayed understanding does not mean absent purpose. Sometimes God is protecting you from something your emotions are blind to. Sometimes the closed door was mercy, sometimes the delay was preparation, sometimes the breakup saved your destiny, and sometimes the wilderness was training ground, not punishment. Joseph was thrown into a pit before he entered the palace. David was anointed king before he ever touched the throne. Jesus himself spent 40 days in the wilderness before ministry exploded publicly. God develops roots before fruit, and roots grow underground where nobody applauds. Verse 7 says, Don't be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. That verse is dangerous in today's culture because modern society celebrates self-exaltation. Everybody wants to become their own God. People say, Follow your heart. But scripture says the heart can be deceitful. People say, Live your truth, but Jesus said, I am the truth. There's a difference. The Bible teaches surrender. And surrender is hard because ego hates kneeling. Pride wants control. Pride says, I know better. Pride says, I got this. Pride says, I don't need correction. But Proverbs says, wisdom begins with fearing the Lord. And fearing God doesn't mean living terrified of Him. It means reverence, honor, acknowledging His authority over your life. The fear of God is understanding. He's God and I'm not. That kind of humility protects people from destruction because pride blinds people. It destroyed Pharaoh, destroyed Saul, destroyed Lucifer himself. Pride convinces people they can survive without God until life humbles them brutally. Then Proverbs says, My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you, for the Lord corrects those he loves. That's powerful. Because correction doesn't feel good in the moment, conviction is uncomfortable, but conviction is evidence that God still cares enough to confront you. A loving father disciplines, a careless father ignores. Some of us prayed for growth, but got offended when God started removing things. Removing people, removing habits, pride, removing comfort zones. We wanted elevation without transformation, but God is more concerned with your character than your image, more concerned with your soul than your reputation, and sometimes God will break the thing that's breaking you. That's mercy. Even when it hurts. God sees who you can become before you do. Check it. The chapter starts praising wisdom. It says, Wisdom is more valuable than silver, gold, or rubies. And that's important because we live in a generation obsessed with external success. People chase money while losing peace, chase attention while losing integrity, chase fame while losing themselves. You can have wealth and still be empty. You can have followers and still feel alone. You can have status and still lack purpose. Wisdom protects what talent alone cannot. Wisdom tells you when to speak and when to stay silent. Wisdom helps you recognize manipulation. It helps you choose relationships carefully, it helps you avoid traps disguised as opportunities. Solomon had immense wealth, but the very thing he asked God for first was wisdom. That says a lot, because wisdom affects every area of life: parenting, marriage, friendships, finance, decision making, spiritual growth. I mean, without wisdom, blessing can become destruction. Now, one of my pay my one of my favorite parts says, You can go to bed without fear, you will lie down and sleep soundly. Man, that verse is differently in this world. So many people are mentally exhausted, anxious, fearful, overthinking constantly. I know I have. Grace to the humble, not the loudest, not the proudest, not the most famous, the humble. The people willing to say, God, I need you. Strong, right? So as I close this episode, I want you to really sit with Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. Maybe you're in a season where life feels unclear. Maybe you're questioning God. Maybe you're frustrated because things aren't moving the way you planned. Maybe you're trying to force doors open that God intentionally closed. Maybe your understanding is fighting against your faith. But hear me clearly. God sees what you cannot. And just because you don't understand the process does not mean God abandoned the plan. Faith is trusting God beyond visible evidence. Trust is obedience before explanation, and understanding often comes after surrender, not before. So keep praying, keep seeking, keep reading scripture, keep trusting even when emotions get loud, because sometimes God is doing his greatest work underground where nobody can see it yet. Just like roots before fruit. I appreciate every single one of you for being here with me as we start this new chapter by chapter series. I pray these conversations don't just inspire you emotionally for one night, but challenge you spiritually for a lifetime. Keep your faith strong, keep your heart open, keep your eyes on Christ. And remember, a world built on confusion desperately needs people grounded in God's wisdom. This is concrete confessions. And until next time, trust God deeper than your own understanding. And that's facts.