"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."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

For years I have struggled with the concept of trust, especially where it came to answers to prayers. When I thought about trusting the Lord, I would say, "Of course I trust Him. He's perfect. He loves me. He would never let me down or lead me astray. It's me I don't trust. I'm imperfect and flawed. I make so many mistakes. How can I trust myself to know if I'm hearing the right answer or interpreting it correctly? How can I trust myself to make the right decisions?"

The answer to these questions came only a few months ago as I began studying the Book of Mormon specifically for insight into the nature of trust. I sincerely asked Heavenly Father for direction, and He responded as quickly as I was willing to open my heart to Him. The answer began in 1 Nephi 1:20. "I . . . will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." In other words, if my faith is great enough, I can know that God will shower me with tender mercies to make me mighty so that I can be delivered.

What is it that I am being delivered from? The natural man. I must yield "to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and [put] off the natural man" (Mosiah 3:19). I must let go of the natural man, sacrifice my carnal nature, overcome that which is natural so that I can experience that which is supernal.

How do I accomplish this? Come unto Christ. He will show me my weaknesses, which He gave me so that I might be humble. When I humble myself before Him and have faith in Him, He will turn my weaknesses into strengths through the power of His atonement. (Ether 12:27)

So, it requires faith and trust. It requires me to let go of the things with which I'm familiar and comfortable. The natural man is very close to home, and it's harder to sacrifice than I thought it would be. I identify myself as this person, with these habits, these strengths, these weaknesses. Putting off the natural man requires me to sacrifice myself in a way, to sacrifice the person I believe I am. But as I release and cast away my identity, Christ immediately steps in and clothes me with a new identity, my true identity. I become capable of so much more than ever would have been possible under my previous identity. I'm a daughter of God! A princess in His kingdom, waiting to become a queen. But I must become a new person, purify myself, to be worthy of that title, responsibility, and inheritance.

I must "turn to the Lord, . . . put [my] trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind" and He will deliver me from the bondage of the natural man. So I don't need to trust myself in my present state. I am imperfect and weak. But I must trust God completely. I must trust that He can take this broken and frail person that I am and make me what he needs me to be.

I don't know if all of that makes sense or not, but this is my testimony: Christ's atonement makes it possible for all of us to change and become better. On a daily basis we can repent and come closer to Christ. Trust is a key factor in our coming to Him. First we have faith in Him, that He is and that He loves us, and then we trust Him. We put our lives in His hands and allow Him to shape us into what He would have us become: our best selves.