A good friend of our family named Jane has a favorite verse that she always quotes. She loves Proverbs 3:5-6, which says, “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.”

For a long time, I didn’t understand why Jane always went back to this verse, until I learned more of her story. Jane told me that she was very sick as a child. In fact, she was on bedrest most of her youth. She lost her mother when she was very young. When she got married as a young adult, her husband began drinking, and their life was plagued by alcoholism for many years. Jane had very little, and yet the Lord provided very much. When Jane should have been sad, despondent, and unhappy, the Lord brought her peace and joy. So, as Jane told me, “I have no choice but to trust in the Lord!”

And you know, I think this is true for many of us, if we really think about it. None of the gifts we have are promised to us. They are all from the Lord. And none of us is in such a pit that God doesn’t have a plan for us. But we can only live out that plan by truly trusting Him.

I encourage you to act like Jane. Place your full trust in the Lord. If you let Him, He will guide your paths and make them straight.                                 This is Luis Palau.