“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

Proverbs 3:5

One of life’s most crucial questions, as highlighted in the book of Proverbs, revolves around the decision of whom to trust. Who will you choose to shape your future? Whose guidance and counsel will you value when making decisions? Whose voice will take precedence on your journey through life? What map, what standard, and what authority will you willingly adhere to and rely on? Throughout Proverbs and the Scriptures, we are reminded that wisdom lies in trusting the Lord, but what does that truly involve?

Leaning on the Lord: In the late 1800s, this was literally (and linguistically) the question that missionary John Patton was wrestling with as he sought to translate the New Testament into the language for the natives in the New Hebrides. Patton was struggling to find a word or phrase in their language that conveyed the biblical idea of trust. Until one day, as Patton was working at his desk, one of the native servants came in and sat down. Suddenly, Patton had an idea. As Patton was sitting in his chair with his feet on the floor. He asked the native what am I doing now? In their native tongue, the servant said, “You’re sitting in your chair, sir.” Then Patton lifted up his feet and leaned his whole weight upon the chair that he was sitting in and he said, “Now, what am I doing?” And in their native language, the servant said, “You have lifted yourself from every other support.” “That’s it!”, shouted Dr. Patton; “That’s faith, to lean on Jesus only, to rest on Jesus wholly, for all the things of  life.” 

Leaning Your Whole Weight: When you read the phrase “Trust in the Lord with all your heart,” it conveys the idea of commiting your entire weight. This is what happens when someone embraces Christ. A person transitions from relying on their own moral deeds for acceptance by God to leaning on Jesus’ perfect moral record for them. They shift from depending on their own sacrifices for God’s approval to relying on the sacrifice Jesus made for them. A genuine Christian rests their entire soul and eternal destiny on the life and work of another – Jesus. This is the essence of saving faith. As the Westminster Confession puts it, “The principle acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting (italics mine) upon Christ alone…”. But here’s the reality we face…

Embracing the Everyday Lean: It’s entirely possible to trust in the Lord for our salvation, yet falter in trusting Him in specific situations. Imagine standing at a crossroads, faced with a decision. Are you truly relying on God’s will and wisdom to guide you? Are you taking His word for it? Or when life throws a bewildering challenge your way, do you lean on His character, His strength, and His sovereign plan that is outside your control? That, my friends, is what trust truly means. The Christian journey is about embracing the “everyday lean” on the Lord.

This beloved verse in Proverbs is like a signpost pointing us away from the “Do-It-Yourself Trust” direction. It basically says, “Don’t rely on your own brain power, buddy!” So, imagine trust as this cool, laid-back person leaning on something for support. What is he or she using as their trusty support system? What is their go-to, their rock? Whatever it is, that’s what he or she is putting all their trust chips on. So, choose wisely. Relying on yourself is like standing on a wobbly stack of Jenga blocks!

Embracing the Everyday “Leave”: I also love the picture of trust that the hymn writer Francis Ridley Havergal gives us when she wrote to a friend, “I keep wondering every day what new lovingkindness is coming next! It is such a glorious life! And the really ‘leaving everything to HIM’ is so inexpressibly sweet, and surely He does arrange so much better than we could for ourselves, when we leave it all to Him.” That’s it—leaning on the Lord and leaving it all to Him. 

As we journey alongside Christ, we rely on the grace of His profound wisdom, His unwavering and empowering strength, and His divine plan for our lives, instead of leaning on our own flawed perspective, limited strength, and imperfect plans. This is what biblical trust is all about—the everyday leaning on the Lord and the everyday leaving it all to Him.