How to Let Go and Trust God

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.
Proverbs 3:5-6

The above verse was one of the first verses I ever memorized as a new Christian and it has stuck with me for close to forty years. But what does it mean to trust in God? How do we know when we are hearing from Him and how do we step back from our desires and submit to Him alone? Surprisingly, the verse above gives us the answer.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

When it comes down to it if we are honest with ourselves we like to be in control of our lives. When we aren't in control of a situation we can feel helpless and this is something I believe every Christian struggles with - surrendering control of our lives to God. It is different then believing and accepting Jesus as your Saviour. Surrendering to God with your whole heart is a moment by moment process. It is a conscious decision to not take back control of life's situations, but to release them to God and trust Him with ALL your heart. So what happens when we do that? What does it look like?

Lean not on your own understanding

When we trust in God and allow Him control of our lives we tend to spend more time in His Word and in prayer. When we do that, our thought patterns change (our minds become renewed and transformed) and we begin to seek God's will over our own understanding. We acknowledge that His ways are the best ways and little by little we start to see a change in how we conduct ourselves.

In all your ways submit  to (or acknowledge) Him

As we become renewed in our thought patterns we begin to notice that important decisions are immediately taken to God in prayer. Even our daily activities (meeting new people, going to work or school, etc.) are with our ears "tuned" so to speak, to hear what the Holy Spirit is telling us about any given situation. Our bad habits we exhibited before being saved are gone and replaced with the will to please God and submit to Him in all things. Do those wants and desires still rear their ugly heads? Of course they do! Satan will always try to tempt us away from God. This is why the Apostle Peter warns us to be on the alert (1 Peter 5:8-9). But by submitting to God, or acknowledging Him in every aspect of our lives something wonderful happens.

He will make your paths straight

As we trust in God, He leads us in the way we should go. When I wrote my first book it was during a time of intense upheaval in my life. During an emergency surgery my vocal chords were damaged and my 30 year singing ministry came to an end in the blink of an eye. When I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to write a book I ignored Him because I believed the Lord would heal me. When the pressure within me to write grew to the point where I could not ignore it, I finally realized that perhaps God had other plans for me now. So one day I submitted to Him and placed my hands on my computer keyboard and said, "Okay, Lord. Use my hands like you used my voice." By submitting to the Lord and leaning not on my own understanding, but acknowledging that His ways are better, I ended up writing a novel about the life of Christ through the eyes of His mother. Come to Me would be the starting point of a new ministry for me. God's ways may seem strange at first, but when we submit to Him we learn first hand that His ways are better and with our best interests in mind.

When we listen and obey, God will lead and guide us in the right direction. When we refuse to obey or go to Him first for advice, He will let us deal with our choices and hope we learn from them. So trust in the Lord with all your heart, take that step of faith today and commit your ways to Him. You may be pleasantly surprised at where He takes you.