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
 
Submission comes before direction.
 
Some days, I want it to be otherwise. I want the Lord to tell me the direction he wants me to take so that I can decide whether to submit to him or not. This is not his way.
 
The Lord prioritizes relationship over performance. What this means is that our connection with him comes first. And some of the paths he has for us to walk must remain closed to us until we open our hearts to him. In love, he won’t direct us down those paths until our heart is wholly devoted to him. 
 
Those who trust in the Lord will find straight paths. But the paths will be hazardous. If we could see them clearly, we would say with Moses: “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” We wouldn’t dare walk these paths alone. They require emotional, psychological, physical, and social resources that are beyond us.
 
But we will not walk those paths alone. 
 
The one who trusts in the Lord wholeheartedly will never walk alone. Christ goes before us and we follow him. His Spirit fills us and empowers us to walk. Our Father watches over us every step of the way. And the people of God journey with us as we share our life together in the mission of God.
 
Submission to the Lord paradoxically prepares us to experience more joy, accomplish more good, and enjoy more freedom. Every day we must decide to follow Jesus, to believe that he’s present, to trust that he’s trustworthy.
 
What areas of your life have you fully entrusted to Jesus in this season of life? What kind of impact has that had? Where do you need help trusting Jesus? Ask him to give you the help that you need to trust him more fully.