“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” — Proverbs 3:5-6

During the past few weeks, I truly have been learning how to trust in the Lord in all things. Often times, we say we trust God, but we don’t trust him in all thy ways. Many times, we try to do things on our own or our own way and wind up making a mess of things. We forget that God’s ways are not like our ways, and His thoughts are not like our thoughts.

As a pastor, I sometimes forget to allow God to direct my actions. I sometimes allow self to get in the way. Instead of acknowledging God, I do things my way rather than God’s way. If you are honest with yourself, you can agree that this has happens to you. You sometimes forget to consult God in what you do. You take matters in your own hands and, most of the time, you make a mess of things.

You see, trusting God in all things is not easy.

I’m learning that God’s way is always the best way. It may not be what I want to do, but if I allow him to direct my path, things will work in my favor. You see, all things work together for the good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. We have to trust God to fix the problems in our lives. We have to rely on his wisdom and knowledge and know that he has our best interest in mind. As one songwriter wrote, “If I hold my peace and let the Lord fight my battles, victory, victory shall hall be mine.”

We can be victorious in all that we do if we learn how to trust God in all things. Trusting God is a learning process, and sometimes we fail the test before we learn the lesson. When we don’t trust God and do things our way, we may cause damage to others and disappoint God and others. However, God does not leave or forsake us. He allows us to suffer the consequences of our actions, forgives us and restores us.

Keep in mind: Man is not like God. Many are not as forgiving. They will tend to harbor things in their hearts, and that broken relationship may be broken forever. The damage caused be not trusting God may not be repaired fully. Therefore, we have to be careful in what we say and do. We have to learn to trust God to handle things in our lives. We have to acknowledge him in all our ways.

I can’t speak for others, but I strive to be like Jesus. I know that sometimes I don’t always pass the test. I’m still a work in progress. However, if I strive to trust and depend on God, I someday will be all that he wants me to be.

Until that time, I must learn to trust and acknowledge him in all my ways.

Jackson is the pastor of St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church and a member of the United Ministerial Alliance.