Proverbs 3
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
The meaning of this Scripture is pretty clear. We are to rely on God’s superior understanding and allow Him to direct our path through life, rather than relying on our inferior and limited understanding. The meaning may be pretty simple but actually managing to do what it says is not always that easy. On the other hand, it doesn’t have to be as complicated as we sometimes make it. Perhaps a personal example about trusting people will help us better relate to the idea of trusting God.
I remember being on the campus of Union University one morning, not long after I had lost all of my functional eyesight. I was going sighted guide with Malesa, the person who was working as my low vision aid, which means that I was holding on to her left arm with my right hand and she was guiding me, mostly just by the path she walked but also with certain arm movements. We were almost late for class and she was walking very quickly. We were weaving around other students who were walking to class and various obstacles. I should have been walking about half a step behind her but I was walking an arm’s length behind her and occasionally slowing her by pulling back a little. I suspect that this was a little bit frustrating for her and I know it was a lot scary for me.
For about the first 20 years of my life, I had very low vision and it was only in my right eye but I did have vision. My visual acuity was about 20/500. I could see basic colors and shapes. I could recognize someone visually, if they were within maybe 3 or 4 feet, and I could slowly read print, if it was electronically magnified about 20 to 25 times. This level of vision certainly did cause pretty severe limitations but it did allow me to navigate somewhat visually, especially if it was in an area that I was already accustomed to. Then, due to a series of major eye surgeries and complications, I lost all of my vision. Even before this happened, I had Malesa, who helped me get around campus and helped with many visual tasks related to my course work, but I was now much more dependent on her. Until I got used to it, I found this very disconcerting.
Previously, even when I had some vision, if we were speeding through the halls with lots of people around, I would have been going sighted guide, because she could see people and obstacles long before I could and she could plan how best to get around them before I even knew they were there. However, when I had some vision, as we slowed down and sped up and weaved around, I at least had some idea as to why she was doing what she was doing. Now, being completely blind, I had no idea and so I just had to trust her. I did trust her but, as we sped through the halls, I couldn’t shake the strong feeling that I was about to use my face to demo a concrete wall. I trusted her. But given what I just said, did I really? It’s complicated. Can you sort of understand?
You may not know what it’s like to be physically blind and be led by another person but, without God’s leading, we are all spiritually blind. Have you ever been speeding down one of life’s paths, which God has set you on and which you don’t understand, and you can’t help but feel that you’re about to hit a concrete wall? Did you want to trust God but felt yourself dropping further and further back behind Him and even pulling against Him, wanting to slow Him down? I know I have. How do you get over feeling that way?
I eventually got over the feeling of impending doom when speeding sighted guide down a crowded hallway. How? I got used to it. This did not happen over night. It would have never happened at all if I had just let go of Malesa’s arm. Over time, as she guided me, day after day, and I didn’t knock down any walls, I came to realize that I wasn’t going to get in the face wall demo business after all.
How do you trust in God’s leading through hard circumstances? The answer to that is multifaceted but a big part of it is simply that you get used to it. In order to do that, you must submit to His leading, day after day, even when it’s hard because you don’t understand what He’s doing. You can’t just let go of His arm. If you keep obediently following, over time, you will gain enough experience to truly and fully trust Him.
I have been going sited guide with God for 34 years now. I will be honest. There have been times when I had no idea what He was up to and I was scared and I dropped back behind Him and pulled against Him. There have even been times when I let my hand slip off His arm. There were occasions when my arm slipped off Malesa’s arm too. It was okay though. Sometimes it made me apprehensive for a few seconds but all I had to do was say her name. Sometimes she realized what had happened even before I did and was already reconnecting with me. When your hand slips off God’s arm, He already knows. If you truly want to stay closely connected to Him, just call out to Him and He will help you reconnect. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you (James 4:8).
I have been making a lot of comparisons between trusting people and trusting God. That may help to make the subject of trusting God a little easier to relate to but trusting God isn’t exactly the same as trusting people. People, no matter how good they are, will eventually let you down, in one way or another. I was once led sighted guide into a steel support column. God will never let you down, as faithfulness is in His very nature (2 TIMOTHY 2:13). You may not always understand what He’s up to but, if you will just keep holding on, He will take care of you. If you will just keep holding on, trust in Him will come easier. If you will just keep holding on, He will be the best friend you have ever had.
