Some days feel like a tug-of-war between headlines that rattle us and a heavenward call to trust God. Proverbs 3:5–6 urges us to “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding… and he will make straight your paths.” That’s not denial—it’s discipleship. In crooked days, God offers straight paths. The way forward isn’t naïve optimism; it’s stubborn faith, grateful obedience, and watchful hope anchored in Christ’s care.

Back to First Love: The Engine of Holy Urgency

Jesus’ words to Ephesus land with a thud in our distracted age: “You have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember… repent and do the works you did at first” (Revelation 2:4–5). If we want to live wisely in “evil days,” we must go back to the beginning—back to first love, where obedience flows from affection, not anxiety. The apostle Paul puts urgency in its proper place: “Look carefully then how you walk… making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15–16).

Urgency without love becomes frantic activism. Love without urgency becomes sentimental drift. In Christ, we hold both: we redeem the time because we treasure the One who redeemed us. Returning to our first love recalibrates our priorities, our media habits, even our conversations at the dinner table. It looks like right-now repentance, right-now worship, and right-now courage to do the next faithful thing.

When God’s Provision Looks Strange

God’s provision often arrives wrapped in what looks like foolishness to human eyes. Israel saw it repeatedly. By faith, they kept the first Passover and walked through the Red Sea on dry ground—acts that made little sense until God split the sea and shut the door on Pharaoh (Hebrews 11:28–29; Exodus 14). The cross itself—our salvation’s blazing center—is “folly” to the world, and yet it is “the power of God” to us who are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Sometimes God’s path to a straight path runs through a strange valley: choosing quiet integrity over quick advancement, forgiving a wound that won’t heal overnight, or tithing when the budget groans. Faith does not wait for life to make sense before it obeys; faith obeys because God’s wisdom outlives our understanding. Our part is the obedience of trust; God’s part is the timing of deliverance.

• Faith and obedience receive God’s provision even when it contradicts our instincts.
• We remember that the Lamb of God who “takes away the sin of the world” still leads His people through impossible seas (see John 1:29).
• We refuse the cynicism that calls obedience naive; we choose the courage that calls it wise.

Waiting for the Master: Watchfulness That Perseveres

Christ calls us to a posture—lamps burning, belts fastened—ready for the Master’s return (Luke 12:35–40). Waiting on the Lord is not passive; it’s active watchfulness. It’s keeping our spiritual house in order, serving with joy, and staying awake to little compromises that dull devotion. Jesus’ end-times teaching reinforces the point: faithful servants are found doing their Master’s will, not predicting dates (Matthew 24–25).

In practice, waiting well looks like perseverance with hope. We live as people who expect to see the Blessed Hope—“the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). Our calendars, budgets, and commitments tell the truth about what (and whom) we’re waiting for.

It Matters to God: The Anchor Beneath Our Trust

None of this—the urgency, the obedience, the watchfulness—will last if we secretly suspect God is indifferent. Scripture will not let us think that way. We are invited to cast all our anxieties on Him, “because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Jesus points to sparrows and hair strands as living parables of divine attention (Luke 12:6–7).

Believer, what breaks your heart matters to your Father. Bring Him the headlines and the hospital receipts, the college decisions and the quiet loneliness. Confident that God cares, we find courage to trust, obey, and wait—not with gritted teeth, but with growing peace.

Practices for Straight Paths in Crooked Days

Here are simple, daily ways to “make the best use of the time” while keeping a warm heart and a steady hope:

• Return to first love: Begin the day by adoring Christ. Sing or pray through a Psalm; remind your soul who He is before you face what the day is.
• Scripture-guided decisions: Before big and small choices, ask, “What does Scripture call wise?” Let Proverbs 3:5–6 frame your planning.
• Grateful obedience: Thank God for today’s provision—especially when it looks small or strange. Then obey in the next clear step.
• Watchful prayer: Set alarms for short prayers throughout the day. Keep your lamp trimmed with repentant, expectant conversation with God.
• Redeem the time: Trade 15 minutes of doom-scrolling for 15 minutes of discipling conversation, purposeful reading, or neighborly care.
• Lean into the local church: Watchfulness is a team sport. Serve, be known, and let others carry what you cannot.
• Cast cares quickly: Don’t hoard anxieties. Hand them off to your Father as they arise (see 1 Peter 5:7).

When the Road Still Feels Crooked

You may be trusting and still waiting. You may be obeying and still bewildered. That does not mean you are off the path. Much of faithful Christianity is simply doing today what Scripture calls good, while believing God will make sense of tomorrow. The Red Sea did not part at the planning table—it opened before a people with sand in their sandals and an army at their back. Straight paths often appear under steady feet.

A Short Prayer for Urgent Days

Father, return us to our first love. Teach us to trust You more than our understanding. Give us grateful obedience for Your wise provision—even when it seems strange. Keep our lamps burning as we wait for Jesus. And anchor us in Your care, until the day faith becomes sight. Amen.

See This Related Post: Return to First Love: Escape Legalism, Restore Your Marriage