When my future son-in-law was approaching the moment when he would propose to my daughter, he wanted to meet with me. I had a hunch he was going to ask for Anna’s hand. When Jared arrived at our place, we headed up to the mountain trails above our home. After 20 minutes of hiking, we stopped at a place called Panorama Point, and I asked, “So, why are we here?” Jared responded, “I want to marry your daughter.” 

I already knew I would give my blessing but I wanted Jared to know why. I said, “My yes is based on this – I can entrust my daughter to you.” 

Entrusting in a marriage is not always an easy thing to do because two imperfect people are involved. Jan and I had to learn the hard way in the early days of our marriage what it meant to be involved in an entrusting relationship. Jared and Anna will engage in the same challenge. 

The word entrust has been translated “to believe.” It is a word used to describe our relationship with God. We entrust our lives to Him – choosing to believe in Him – knowing He has good and perfect intentions. In a relationship like a marriage, the basis for our entrusting rests in the faithfulness of God. It is an entrusting that takes place when challenges come, and no way forward seems possible. In those moments, two people choose to lean into the One who is always trustworthy, especially when trust breaks down in a marriage.

Today, a year and a half after Jared and Anna were married, the statement I made to Jared, “I can entrust my daughter to you” remains true. It is an entrusting they will experience when struggles are honestly engaged, and they choose to press through the challenge entrusting their marriage to the Lord and His will, not their individual demands or expectations.  

Entrusting is an act of surrender. It means letting go of the need to control the other person and allowing the Lord to lead the relationship forward. The beginning of a breakthrough in any relationship takes place when we entrust those we love to the Lord.  The presence of an entrusting love makes all things possible.