All My Fountains Are In You

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." — Proverbs 3:5–6

There have been seasons when I read Proverbs 3:5–6 almost as if God were asking me to set my dreams aside. Don't trust yourself. Don't want too much. Don't make plans. Just wait. To be honest, during those seasons it was easier to approach life from that perspective because dreams and desires felt scary. I had experienced too much disappointment to trust dreaming, even dreaming with God.

However, lately, as I've been praying through this passage, I'm beginning to see something different. God isn't asking us to stop desiring. He's inviting us to trust the One who gave us the capacity to desire in the first place.

The problem has never been that we have dreams. The problem is that our hearts, left to themselves, don't always know which dreams will ultimately satisfy us. That's why Solomon says not to lean on our own understanding. Our understanding is limited. We see today's obstacles; God sees tomorrow's opportunities. We see closed doors; He sees the road beyond them. We see detours; He sees the destination.

Trust means believing that God's wisdom is greater than my perspective.

This meditation led me to Psalm 37:

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act." (Psalm 37:4–5)

I've often heard this verse explained as though delighting in God simply changes our desires until we no longer want anything but Him. There is certainly truth in that. The closer we draw to God, the more our hearts become aligned with His. But I don't think that's the whole picture.

God doesn't erase our humanity; He redeems it. He often plants holy desires within us—desires to create, to build, to teach, to serve, to write, to raise children, to encourage others, to travel, to make beauty, to leave a legacy of faith. Those desires are not distractions from our walk with Him when they are surrendered to Him. They become part of the journey He leads us on.

Psalm 37 doesn't separate delighting in God from the desires of our heart. It connects them. As we delight in Him, our desires become increasingly shaped by His heart. Then, as we commit our way to Him, He begins opening doors we could never have opened ourselves.

That's where Proverbs 3 and Psalm 37 beautifully meet. Trust. Delight. Commit.

And then... He leads.

One more verse came to mind during my prayer:

"All my fountains are in You." (Psalm 87:7)

What a beautiful picture. He is the source of all hope, purpose, and strength. Our deepest source of joy is not found in achieving our dreams. It's found in God Himself.

Ironically, that's what frees us to dream. When God is our source, we no longer need our dreams to prove our worth or secure our happiness. We can hold them with open hands. We can pursue them faithfully without becoming enslaved to them. We can celebrate unexpected opportunities and trust Him through unexpected disappointments because our life is flowing from a deeper spring.

Perhaps that's what trusting God really looks like. Not living without dreams. Not demanding that our dreams happen on our timetable. But walking so closely with Him that every desire is continually surrendered, refined, and sustained by His presence.

He alone knows the straight path. He alone knows which desires should be fulfilled, which need to mature, and which need to be lovingly transformed.

So today I find myself praying a different prayer.

"Lord, You are my greatest delight. Let every dream begin in You, be guided by You, and ultimately lead me back to You. Because wherever You lead, that is the place where life is found."