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 (NLT)

I ran into a wise old friend a few weeks ago and asked him how things are going for him. He laughed when I asked and responded, “When I was a young man I thought I had to have all the right answers. Then I got older and I thought I had to ask all the right questions. Now, I’m at a place where I’m just trying to learn to live in the mystery.”

I memorized the verses above when I was a young man, and each time we come back to this chapter I am reminded of their wisdom. Like my friend, I have long ago given up thinking that I understand all the answers. In recent years my life journey has taken me places where at times even my questions lack any potency to ease my heart and mind. I am caught in the mystery of the silence when I mutter “Why?,” “I don’t get it,” and “Father God, I simply don’t understand.”

Today, I am reminded by familiar words not to rely on my own understanding. I am reminded that this journey I am on is a journey of faith and faith requires trust when my own senses and wisdom fail to comprehend the current path nor its true purpose. Today, I am reminded to seek contentment to live in the mystery knowing that neither the right answers nor the right questions are required. Sometimes faith is the only requirement.

Related articles

• Wisdom’s Whisper (tomvanderwell.wordpress.com)
• Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again – my Savior and my God ~ Psalm 42:11, NLT (phoenixfirst.wordpress.com)
• Walking in God’s Strength and Not My Own (joleneengle.com)
• Proverbs 3:5-6 (follow4biblestudy.com)