Proverbs 3 has always been familiar, but today it felt deeply personal.

Proverbs 3:5–6 has long been an anchor verse for Shaun and me.
It’s one we return to often, and one I’ve written in countless farewell letters to people we’ve sent out—because it reminds me of something I desperately need to remember:

my own ways are not trustworthy.

Left to myself, I can reason well, justify well, and still end up off course.
Trusting the Lord—fully, humbly, without reservation—and walking in obedience to Him isn’t optional if I desire an upright life.

It’s essential.

What struck me anew in this chapter is the intimacy the Lord shares with the upright.
Scripture tells us that the Lord is intimate with those who walk rightly before Him, and I find myself longing for that closeness—not because it makes life easy, but because He is so good.

His nearness is not earned by perfection, but enjoyed through surrender.

Proverbs 3 also speaks about the Lord’s correction, and I’m grateful that it does not shy away from it.
Correction is not a contradiction of His goodness; it is an expression of it.

When God corrects, it is never harsh, never careless, and never disconnected from love.
Even when it’s uncomfortable—even when it humbles me—it is always for my good.

I see this so clearly through the lens of parenting.
We correct our children not because we delight in their discomfort, but because we love them too much to let them continue down a path that will harm them.

In the same way, the Lord disciplines those He loves.
His correction is evidence of relationship, not rejection.

Proverbs 3 reminds me that wisdom, trust, obedience, intimacy, and correction are not separate ideas—they are deeply connected.

To trust Him is to submit to Him.
To walk uprightly is to remain close to Him.
And to accept His correction is to rest in the truth that His heart toward us is always good.

Today, my prayer is simple:

Lord, help me trust You more than I trust myself.
Help me welcome Your correction.
And help me walk uprightly—not to earn Your love, but because I already have it.