“I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me.” Psalm 44:6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6

A couple of months ago I bought a GPS to help me navigate through unfamiliar cities in my travels, but within weeks of buying it, I realized something. Sometimes I don’t trust it. There have been many occasions when it has mapped out my route and I wanted to argue…or even worse, I have ignored its suggestions, relied on my experience and recalculated my own route.

I find this amusing. With satellites in place offering perfect perspective, my machine exists to keep me moving in the right direction, yet I don’t trust it.

It reminds me of the way that I and many others respond to God. Even though we have stated our trust in the God who created the Universe and effortlessly holds it together, when it comes to the little details of our own lives we argue. We take back control and try to do it on our own. We ignore the Scriptures given to protect us from our own poor choices and do whatever seems best in our own eyes.

Through scripture, God gives us perfect perspective on relationships, yet we fail to guard our heart and aggressively jump into dangerous relationships that rip us to shreds, put us in temptations way as we try to prove we are the exception.

We sense God calling us to a deep and intimate relationship with Him, yet we complicate our schedules with so many unimportant things that we have no time left for the most important one. We sense Him inviting us deeper and know that means spending more time in His presence, yet our excuses outweigh our convictions and we never experience His heart like we long to.

Even though we say that all we are comes from God and all we have is His, we fight when He nudges us to give back. We ignore the poor, the hungry, the orphaned, and the marginalized because we can’t do without our Starbucks or our new outfit. We refuse to respond to Spirit promptings to invest our time and finances in evangelism because we prefer our comforts and our conveniences.

I hate the fact that I tangibly trust my wisdom more than His direction. I know that His Word is sent to guide me and His Spirit to direct me, but often times I refuse to be led. I hate that. I wish that trust came naturally to me. He has never disappointed me and never let me down. He has proven Himself completely faithful and one hundred percent trust worthy, yet in moments when my will is strong, I either don’t ask Him for wisdom or I completely ignore what He is sharing with me.

I know that it is easy to say, but I am going to work on that. Instead of solely trusting myself, I am going to listen for His voice. Rather than trying to figure it out on my own, I am going to try to submit more quickly. I have a feeling that He will get me where He wants me to go…which ultimately is where I want to go anyway.

It all starts with trust.