06/18/2026
June 18, 2026 - Daily Devotional
Bible verses were an important part of my growing-up years. We regularly attended church, and we learned Scripture from an early age. My grandmother was the first “Bible scholar” I knew. She was a voracious reader, and the Bible was at the top of her reading list. She always seemed to provide advice, comfort, correction, and even humor in the form of a verse she knew by heart.
My mom could do the same thing. Though she always said she was not as well-read or educated in God's Word as her mother, she would often provide a Scripture passage as guidance for my siblings and me as we were growing up.
When I went off to college, she would write me letters. No texting—heck, we didn't even have cell phones yet! But the letters came regularly. Almost always, she would end with a Scripture verse or two to encourage me or perhaps address a current need or concern. I have saved many of those letters, and recently I came across several of them. One verse appeared frequently: Proverbs 3:5–6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
What a beautiful verse. I know it must have brought great comfort to her while I was away at school, and she wanted to pass along that same comfort to me.
During many of my regular calls home, we would talk about all the day-to-day happenings at school—upcoming tests and projects, difficult roommates, new friendships, and relationships. No matter the concern, big or small, my mom would remind me that even when we didn't have the answers, God wanted us to trust Him.
She would say that even the little things are important to God, so we should pray and trust Him with the simplest concerns—not just what we thought were important “God issues.” She would remind me that when we give our concerns to God, He leads us in the right direction.
Whenever I lamented over a difficult decision, she would always say, “Pray about it. You'll know what to do.”
At times, that seemed confusing. How would I know what to do? Would the answer just come to me?
Now I realize she was simply living out that verse again and again.
In her own way, she was saying: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Now that my own daughter is away at college, we send lots of messages—mainly texts, occasional phone calls or FaceTime chats, and, on rare occasions, a letter. Before the end of the school year, I was writing one of those rare letters and wanted to offer some advice and encouragement, but I wanted it to sound cool and not too preachy.
So, I told her, “You don't need a plan for everything. Trust God with the things you can't control, do your part, and keep moving forward. It will make more sense looking back, even if it doesn't make sense right now.”
As I wrote those words, it occurred to me that maybe I'm living out Proverbs 3:5–6 a little bit too.
-Lori Hall, Executive Director of Missions
