Your mind wants answers.
When life falls apart or takes an unexpected turn, the first thing you do is try to make sense of the pieces.
You puzzle over the details.
You replay the events in your head, looking for a logical explanation.
You search for a reason why God would let this happen to you.
This desire for clarity is a basic part of being human.
But faith does not require you to understand the path before you walk it.
In fact, real trust only begins when your understanding ends.
The Old Testament book of Proverbs addresses this directly.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5 (KJV)
To lean on something means to put your entire weight on it for support.
If you lean on a weak railing, it will collapse and you will fall.
The writer of Proverbs warns you that your own intellect is a weak railing.
Your mind can only see a tiny fraction of the big picture.
You see the immediate pain, the closed door, or the broken relationship.
You do not see what is coming next month, next year, or ten years from now.
When you try to support your entire life on what you can figure out, you will experience constant worry.
Another account in the New Testament shows what happens when you let go of your need to understand.
In the gospel of John, chapter thirteen, Jesus began to wash the feet of His disciples.
This was a task reserved for the lowest servants, not the Master.
Peter did not understand why Jesus was doing this.
He tried to stop Jesus, saying that Jesus would never wash his feet.
Jesus gave Peter a direct answer.
“What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.” John 13:7 (KJV)
Jesus did not give Peter a long explanation.
He did not lay out the meaning of the act before He did it.
He simply told Peter that understanding would come later.
For now, Peter had to accept the action without knowing the reason.
You face the same choice today.
You can refuse to follow God until He explains Himself, or you can allow Him to lead you through the fog.
Trusting God when you do not understand is not a blind leap into the dark.
It is placing your confidence in a Person whose character you already know.
You do not need to know the plan when you know the Planner.
You can take specific steps today to put this into practice.
Begin by writing down your worries.
Get the thoughts out of your head and onto a piece of paper.
Identify the specific things you are trying to control but cannot.
Next, actively hand those issues over to God.
Let go of your demand for immediate answers.
Say out loud that you do not know the way forward, but you know God does.
Finally, focus on your next step.
Do not worry about the next ten steps or the next year.
Do the next right thing that God has put in front of you today.
Let Him worry about the rest.
Your peace is not found in having all the answers.
Your peace is found in knowing the One who holds them.