Trust = Confidence

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding.  

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."  

Proverbs 3:5-6

I've been thinking about that word "trust".  Proverbs 3:5-6 was one of the first couple verses I memorized.  In fact I think I had it put on my letter jacket in high school.  It's so easy to become so familiar with something that you don't really see it anymore.  Or understand it.  I heard this verse in a message a friend preached the other night and it prompted me to really take a look at it again.

I want my paths straight.  I want to fulfill God's plan for my life.  In fact, that is the most important thing to me in this world: doing what God created me to do.  There are a lot of general things that He wants and asks of all believers but I'm talking about His specific will, plans and purposes for me.

So I started looking at the word "trust" again.  Webster's really only has a few words for it:

::to place confidence in

::to depend

That got me thinking, what am I putting my confidence in?  Who am I depending on?  What am I depending on?

I mean really, you can get so caught up living life and believing and "trusting" God for so many things.  But if you were to really stop and take some time instead of trying to juggle everything, you realize you aren't really trusting.  I realized that in some areas I was placing my confidence more in my ability.  More in the fact that I was believing God and saying the right things and praying the right things.  And so because I was doing all these right things, everything is going to work out.

Praying is necessary.  Having faith in God is a must.  Believing He is true to His Word is the only way to live.  But if I'm placing my confidence more in the fact that I am DOING those things than in Him, I'm in trouble.  Because I am supposed to place my trust in Him.  Not what I'm doing.  That doesn't make sense does it?  Probably why He threw "and lean not on your own understanding" in there next.

So I readjusted.  I recalibrated.  I've got my trust, my confidence in HIM.  I am completely dependent upon Him.  Which makes having faith in Him, believing His Word and talking to Him so much easier.  I don't go to Him wondering if I've crossed all my t's and dotted all my i's.  I go to Him trusting Him.  In Him I place my confidence.