Trust in the Lord and He will make your path straigth

The word 'Trust' is defined as the firm belief or reliability of something or someone.

'Trust' is the bridge between what we heard from God and the actions we take next. Often, the reason why we do not take actions after God speaks to us, is simply because we do not trust Him. The bridge of 'Trust' between His word and our actions collapses automatically through our own understanding of life. We may sing and pray loudly that 'we trust God' but as long as we do not act upon His word, then we clearly do not trust God. In the Kingdom of God, 'Trust' is only validated upon our actions directed by His word. One of the most popularly known Bible passage related to 'Trust' is found in Proverbs 3:5-6 and it says: '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.' Our own understanding is the 'hammer' that breaks the bridge of trust. When we hear from God and then decide to filter what we heard through our intelligent understanding, we end up selecting or rejecting what does not suits us. A few years ago, around 2014, I visited a Church home cell led by one of my best friends, Barnard, in Richards Bay. The home cell had some strong prophetic characteristics. Most members had the ability to see visions and hear prophetically from God. As I attended on the very first day, a gentleman by the name of Derrick saw me in a vision and this what he said to me: 'Maurice I saw you walking on a clear road but you opted to keep walking in the bushes. And every time you walked in the bushes, you then returned on the clear road but with bruises and injuries. But you never gave up, you kept walking.' In the instant of the moment, I could not understand what it meant. But after a few seconds, it hits me: 'I used to be selective. And many times over during my Christian walk, I always wanted to do the will of God BUT I tried to accomplish it in my own terms. When Derrick saw me walking away from the clear road, it represented me being willed to accomplish God's plan but in my own terms. And effectively, I would often return on the clear path'. You see my friend, doing the will of God is not just about accomplishing the end goal but also about doing it HIS WAY. When we decide on doing it our way, we are simply telling God that we don't trust His ways. Proverbs 3:5-6 says that the LORD shall make our paths straight when we trust Him. When I did not trust Him, I would wonder on the 'bushy path' but when I trusted Him I would return on the clear path. Note that whenever we rely on our own understanding of doing things, we wonder in a bush and we get stuck, wasting time like the children of Israel who did not trust God to help them overcome the inhabitants who occupied the promised land (reference Numbers 13 and 14). It took Jesus 33 years to accomplish everything and impact history because He obeyed and trusted the LORD in everything. His paths were clear. When we trust the LORD fully, our road is clear. But when we don't, the path becomes bushy and 'super slow'. Ask the children of Israel who wondered for 40 years in the desert... 'Trusting the LORD' has nothing to do with lip service. The LORD sees how we apply the word He tells us. We can cry in church, sing how much we trust Him but if we don't apply the Word he gives us then the lip service is null. Here is some good food for thought: 'When we give our lives to Christ, we trust God for our salvation. We actually believe that as we die, He will resurrect us for eternal life. The resurrection power is (in my view) bigger than any miracle that may occur in our present lives. You trust God for resurrection, right? But if you trust God to resurrect you, how come you do not trust Him for any directions He gives you in this earthly life? 'You trust God for your salvation, but you do not trust Him with your tithes? 'You trust God to pull you out of the grave, but you do not trust Him with directives He gives on earth?' This sounds extremely contradictory. When we study the passage of Proverbs 3:5-6, the opposite can actually be true: 'if we rely on our own understanding, our path will be bushy' When God speaks, it becomes very tempting to filter his order through our own analysis, our own thinking ways and then we make the mistake of deciding based on own views. So it sounds a bit like this: ' Lord, I Know what you told me to do BUT I think that my method and my choices are much more suitable and better than your opinion. Thanks for your opinion but my opinion is much better.' And even after acting that way, certain people actually dare singing in the choir: 'Lord I trust you!' What an insult to God. You see my friend, in all the years I have walked with the Lord, I have never seen a person distrusting God and getting away with it unscathed. Often, when we distrust God and when we choose to do it our own ways, it will look good in the beginning BUT in a long run you will end up in a bush with snakes biting you. If you want the clear path, do not let your own understanding filter our out God's opinion in all aspects of your life. I once explained in a previous letter, the importance of studying the Bible with dictionary. If you do a bit of lexicology, you will notice in Proverbs 3:5-6 a key word: 'submit' (I have underlined it in the verse mentioned). Submission to the LORD is the activating motor behind 'trust'. Our own understanding will often tell us NOT to submit. When we refuse to submit, we do not trust Him. Make your choice. Even when God's opinion does not make sense, Trust Him anyway.