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Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;

Life is hard. The challenges of being a good father, a good husband, and a good minister can sometimes jolt me a few notches away from sanity.  How do you navigate the mess?  Is it even possible?

No, it’s not.  At least, I don’t see how it could be.

I think life’s muck and madness will eventually break us down – if we try and tackle it on our own.  Just watch the evening news.  I sometimes have to turn it off for fear of my heart breaking because of all the craziness that this world offers us.  I’m tired of it.

This verse I quoted is well-known, often preached, and terribly hard to accomplish.  How do you learn to trust God with all of your heart?  I’ve learned through the years that God will always take care of my needs.  There have been times in ministry that my wife and I can look back and wonder how we ever made it through; it really shouldn’t have worked out, but it did.  2 years full-time in a churchy rock band will teach you to trust!  But I’m not talking about finances or safety.

What does it look like to fully give yourself (all worries, hobbies, good things, bad things, family, work, memories, victories, and failures… everything you are) up to God?  Even the intellect takes a distant back-seat to this level of trust (“lean not on your own understanding”). That sounds good and wise; yet seemingly remains impossible.

That’s why I think the best place to start is the scriptures.