“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).

It’s midnight. You should be in bed. But the Mariner’s game went into extra innings. Not only should you be in bed, but now, you’re hungry. You ate dinner at five. It’s been seven hours since your last meal. What should you do?

• Your feelings say – I’m hungry!!! Let’s eat!!!
• Your brain tells you – Go to bed!!! No way are you eating at midnight!!!

It’s raining again. We do live in the Pacific Northwest after all. You should take a walk. It would be good for you. You made a commitment to get healthier. But it’s raining. What should you do?

• Your feelings say – it’s raining. It’s wet. You don’t want to put on all that gear and walk. Just call it a day. Besides, this sofa is so comfy.
• Your brain tells you – you made a commitment to be healthier. Commitments matters. Besides, you benefit the most from being healthier. Let’s get out there.

When it comes to living healthier lives you would never consider following your feelings. If you were truly serious about living healthy, you base it on commitment and to what you know to be right.

We know this when it comes to living physically healthy lives. And it just boggles my mind why we would allow our hearts to dictate how we live healthy spiritual and emotional lives. That’s dumb!!! Our hearts cannot be trusted. Feelings cannot be trusted.

In fact, our passage today tells us that we are to trust our hearts and our feelings to the LORD. That’s what it means to not lean on our own understanding.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LIVE A GOD-HONORING LIFE BY LIVING BASED ON FEELINGS.

In all your ways submit to God and his rule. Then God will make our paths straight.

Whatever you do, DO NOT TRUST YOUR HEART. It will lead you astray.

TRUST IN THE LORD WITH YOUR HEART.

Got it?

“In you, LORD my God, I put my trust” (Psalm25:1).

What does it mean to trust God?

First, you have to know WHO it is you are putting your trust in. The one we trust is God. What kind of a God is he?

He is a God who absolutely loves us. There is nothing short of sin that God will not do to demonstrate his unconditional love for us.

Not only does God love us with an unconditional love, our God wants what is best for us. Nothing pleases God more than to see us living our best lives, becoming best selves.

Not only does God love us, not only does he want what is best for us, he knows better than us. You can absolutely trust God because he is trustworthy in every sense. He loves us. He wants what is best for us. And he knows what is best, even better than we do.

Secondly, what does it mean to trust God?

Love what Augustine said about this. He said:

Trust the past to God’s mercy,
the present to God’s love,
the future to God’s providence.

There is nothing in the past that God has not forgiven. It is absolutely true that there is much in our past that condemns us. But that’s all forgiven. When we repent and ask God for forgiveness, all of that is done away with as if we had never sinned. That’s good news. That’s mercy.

Every single day is a gift of God’s love. God gave us this day so that we might rejoice and be glad in it. God gave us the gift of this day so that God can use us to be an agent of blessing to the people around us. Trust God with today and all that it has to bring.

No one knows what the future holds. But we know who holds the future and who is present in our future. God is there. Not only is God present in our future, but he is working things out in our day to bring about God’s kingdom. God is actively at work in the present to ensure that the promises of God are our future reality.

Trust in God. Fully rely on God. Lean on him. Rest in him. He is LORD our God.

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means God with us)” (Matthew 1:23).

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:12).

There is no “there” where God is not there.

God tells us that he is the Alpha and the Omega. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. There is nothing in the created world from “A” to “Z” where God is not already present.

God tells us that he is the first and the last. There is no time which God is not present. Theologians use the word “omnipresent” to describe God’s presence. There is no time – past, present, and the future – where God does not rule and reign.

God tells us that he is the beginning and the end. All of creation and all of eternity are God’s handiwork. God exists beyond time, beyond creation.

Why? What does all this mean? What does any of this have to do with us?

Because God desires to be Immanuel – God with us. For there is never a there where God does not desire you to be there.

God loves you. And it was this love for you that drove him to the cross to bear the penalty of sin so that we can be reunited with him through the resurrection and the empty tomb. God is crazy about you. You are the object of his delight.

Friends, know this:

God is with you,
God is for you.
There is never a “there” where God is not already there.
Rest in God.
Trust God.