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This audio is AI-narrated and may mispronounce some names and places.

Good morning, friends! Pull up a chair on the porch — Uncle Ricky, Biscuit, and Olive have a verse to share with you today.

Uncle Ricky: Good Thursday morning, friends! Come on out on the porch — the fog is just lifting off the fields, and we’ve got a verse for anybody who can’t quite see the road ahead today.

Biscuit: That’s me, Uncle Ricky. I like a road I can SEE. Yesterday I tried a shortcut through the woods, all on my own figuring, and… well… I am STILL picking stickers out of my tail.

Olive: And you came out on the wrong side of the creek! I could hear you hollering clear from the porch!

Uncle Ricky: Ha! Well, Biscuit, you just walked us right into today’s Scripture. Listen to Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Biscuit: Lean not unto my own understanding? But my understanding is my favorite understanding! I understand snacks, and naps, and… okay, mostly just snacks and naps.

Uncle Ricky: And that’s honest, son — most of us lean on our own understanding because it’s right there and it sounds so confident. But to lean means to put your weight on something. If you lean your whole weight on a fence post, you’d better hope that post is solid. Our own understanding? Some days it’s a fine post. Other days it’s rotten clean through — and down we go.

Olive: So God is the solid post!

Uncle Ricky: He is the solid everything, Olive. And look at the first part again: “Trust in the LORD with ALL thine heart.” Not half a heart. Not trust Him on Sunday and trust ourselves the rest of the week. All thine heart. Now isn’t that exciting? The Lord isn’t asking for a piece of your trust — He’s worthy of the whole of it, and He can carry the whole of it.

Biscuit: Okay, but here’s my question, and it’s a big one. If I trust Him, will He show me the whole road? Like, a map? With snack stops marked?

Uncle Ricky: Ha! No map, Biscuit — something better. The promise says “he shall direct thy paths.” He directs as we go. Think about driving Louisville road on a foggy morning. Your headlights don’t show you the whole way home — they show you the next little stretch. And that’s enough, because as you roll forward, the light rolls with you. God often works just like that: trust Him for the next step, and the next step after that will come into view right on time.

Olive: Oh, I love that! You don’t have to see the whole road to take the next step!

Uncle Ricky: That’s exactly right. And notice the middle of the verse: “In ALL thy ways acknowledge him.” Not just the big ways — the hospital ways and the hard-decision ways — but all of them. The Thursday ways. The grocery-store ways, the work ways, the family ways. Acknowledging Him means we talk to Him, we thank Him, we ask Him, all day long, in the middle of ordinary life.

Biscuit: Hmm. So yesterday in the woods, instead of trusting my own shortcut… I could’ve just asked? And taken the regular path? The one where somebody who knows the way already went ahead?

Uncle Ricky: Now you’re preaching, Biscuit! I’d call that a gift from God, wouldn’t you? He doesn’t scold us for not seeing the whole road. He just invites us to trust the One who built the road, who sees the end from the beginning, and who loves us enough to walk every foggy stretch right beside us.

Olive: Then I’m not scared of the foggy parts anymore. Well… maybe a teeny tiny bit. But mostly not!

Biscuit: Me neither. Mostly. And Uncle Ricky… if my understanding tries to take another shortcut, would you holler at me from the porch?

Uncle Ricky: Son, I will holler with love. Friends, let’s pray together. Father, thank You for this Thursday, and thank You that we don’t have to figure out the whole road by ourselves. Forgive us for leaning so hard on our own understanding. Teach us to trust You with all our hearts, to acknowledge You in all our ways — the big ones and the small ones — and to take the next step in faith, believing You will direct our paths just like You promised. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Uncle Ricky: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart, friends. Take the next step He shows you today, and leave the rest of the road in His hands — He has never once lost anybody who trusted Him. Doesn’t that make you feel great?

— Uncle Ricky

A little something from the shop: our “Trust in the LORD — Proverbs 3:5” design is in the Uncle Ricky’s Bible shop now — on shirts, mugs, and more. Every purchase helps keep the daily devotion and the chapter readings coming to you free. Find it at relateecm.com/shop/ — and thank you kindly for being part of this family.