Trust and Understanding: Finding Peace in God’s Guidance
By Dr. Brandon Steenbock, Family Minister
Proverbs 3:5-6 – 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.
I don’t know how many times in their lives I have told my boys, “I’m asking you to trust me even if you don’t understand.” Like when I tell them they should not watch a certain show or spend time on a certain game or app. Or when I don’t want them to go driving somewhere at a particular time or under particular conditions, even though they are sure they can handle it. They want to understand, and I believe that it’s important to explain it to them. But sometimes the explanation goes beyond their maturity or experience, and I just want them to trust me.
If only my Father in heaven could get that message across to me.
I would love to understand all that God is doing in my life. If he could sit me down and explain to me why I didn’t get to do this thing I wanted to do, or don’t have this thing I want to have, or had to go through this frustration, or trouble, or suffering I had to go through. And sometimes he makes it clear to me, like when I read Scripture and suddenly the dots connect to my life, and I say, “Oh, that’s why!” But most of the time, I don’t get that explanation. And I think it’s because he just wants me to trust him.
And I really should. You know, if God had asked me, I would have told him never to put that tree in the garden. Then Adam and Eve wouldn’t have eaten the fruit, sin and death would never have come, and we would all be living easy. Maybe I don’t understand the goodness of God’s original plan of giving them the potential for obedience, even if it meant the potential for disobedience. And if God had asked me, I would have told him that the idea of sacrificing his Son to save all of us sounds kind of crazy and not something a Father can do. Maybe I don’t understand the goodness of a God who would sacrifice his own Son to save me.
Maybe I just don’t understand, and that’s why God doesn’t ask me.
So when I think about my own life and say, “Well, God, if you asked me, I think this is how it should go,” I should probably just stop. I don’t always understand. I don’t need to. That doesn’t mean my Father’s plans aren’t good, it just means he wants me to trust him.