May 19 – Trusting God with the Future

Proverbs 3:5–6
"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." (NIV)

SITREP:
What happens when the future feels more like a threat than a promise? For the combat vet who’s seen what war can do—who’s pulled a trigger and lived with the aftermath—Proverbs 3:5–6 hits different. It’s not just a comforting verse for uncertain times. It’s a direct order for the warrior weighed down by decisions that can’t be undone.

Breaking Down the Verse:

• "Trust in the Lord with all your heart" — Not with half your heart. Not with the parts that haven’t been hardened by what you’ve lived through. God wants the part of you that doubts, the part that questions, the part that aches. Total surrender from a soldier who knows what it means to carry weight.

• "and lean not on your own understanding;" — You’ve had to make snap decisions. You’ve relied on instincts sharpened by war. But this verse reminds you—your understanding is limited. It doesn’t account for eternity. This is a challenge to stop trying to make sense of the past on your own.

• "in all your ways submit to him," — Not just in your quiet moments. In the mess. In the guilt. In the memories you never asked to keep. Every part of your journey—God wants all of it under His authority.

• "and he will make your paths straight." — This isn’t about comfort. It’s about correction. God isn’t promising an easy road. He’s promising a clear one—a path with purpose and direction, even after moral injury, even after bloodshed.

Solomon writes these words to a people who knew warfare, compromise, and regret. It’s a call not just to the pious—but to the broken, the hardened, the ones who’ve been in the fight and carry the fight with them still.

How a Combat Veteran Can Live This Out:
Every soldier who’s seen combat knows what it’s like to feel detached from normal life. Proverbs 3:5–6 reminds every warrior of faith that your future is not shaped by your past—it’s shaped by your trust in the One who redeems it.

You’ve taken life. You’ve followed orders that still echo. You’ve walked off the battlefield but brought pieces of it home.

And God says: Trust Me.

• Not your instincts.

• Not your rationalizations.

• Not the numbness you’ve leaned on to survive.

Trust Me. With all your heart. Even the dark parts. Even the broken parts. Especially those.

You don’t need to rebuild your own path. You need to hand over the map.

ENDEX:
You’ve carried enough on your own. It’s time to trust the One who already carried the cross. Soldier, God isn’t asking you to pretend the past didn’t happen. He’s asking you to stop letting it drive. Your future doesn’t have to be chained to your war record—not when your Redeemer writes your new orders. Submit to Him. Trust His direction. The next mission starts when you do.

AAR (After Action Review):
You know how to survive. Now it’s time to surrender. Proverbs 3:5–6 reminds every combat veteran that your path forward won’t be clear until you let go of the wheel. Stop leaning on what you think you know. Stop trying to redeem yourself through effort or distance. Trust the Commander who knew your past and still called you forward. Let Him lead. He knows the way home.