Commentary by Michael VandenBerg
Do you trust God to take care of you or are you anxious about life? If you trust God, then you will be able to navigate all the twists and turns of life and know that in the end, all will be well. Your trust will be in God and not your own devices or understandings. You will be a person of hope!
In the book of Proverbs (3:5-6), it tells us the secret to successful living is to, “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.” If you want to live with confidence and hope, it is necessary to reach outside yourself and trust in the God who created you, loves you and has paid a great price to save you. If you want to be able to navigate through life with clarity of vision, then you need a wisdom and vision that is greater than you are.
You see, we tend to see all things from our own perspective, a small slice of the pie, viewing life at ground level with little understanding of the big picture. What is needed is to be able to see life as well from a 3,000-foot altitude that gives us clarity, which our narrow understandings rarely can. In fact, what we really need is to see life from an eternal perspective if we want to keep all of life in perspective.
When asked how it is that even in the face of adversity, I can live in confidence. I tell people that it is because I read the last chapter and know the secret to a winning life. God has provided us with a road map, so to speak, in the Bible. If we follow the directives of the Bible and learn to live as redeemed people, we can overcome all the brokenness and evil and exchange it all for eternal love.
This is why the Apostle Paul says in all things he has learned how to be satisfied. He is not saying he is pleased with everything that came his way, he was not. It is not saying his life was always one of roses and sunshine, it certainly wasn’t. The Apostle Paul lived as a prisoner, a fugitive, a teacher, preacher and theologian, and most of all, as a follower of Jesus. He knew iy did not matter if things were going well or if things had truly taken a turn for the worse, he could live in successful security, knowing the outcome.
It is kind of like watching a suspenseful movie for the second time. You might find yourself startled, fearful and anxious at times while you watch it, but you know in the end what the outcome is, so you can be less troubled with the movement of the characters. God has a grand, wonderful plan for your life if you will but follow, so stop fretting the small stuff, even though it may seem huge at the time.
