“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6- I have this verse on my dining room wall. I look at it every day. I ponder its meaning from time to time. I rest in the sovereignty of His promise within it. But admittedly, I often fall back on my own understanding. When God’s will does not fit into what I perceive it to be, when God’s Word rubs my flesh like an irritant on my skin, and when God is stretching me beyond my earthly limitations, I admit, I not only lean on my own understanding, I often jump into its arms.
But I must ask myself, who is Lord of my heart then? Is it me? Is it my past experience? Is it the culture that I am encased in? Is it the enemy? At any given time it could be any of these, or all of them. It is in these times, when I clutch what I think I know so hard that my fingers start to bleed, that surrendering to His understanding is the hardest thing to do, yet the most important. As I walk with Him daily, seeking to exchange my world conforming grip with His mind transforming Word, I am essentially transferring my grip to His. I am saying, “Lord your understanding is infinitely greater than mine, I acknowledge you in this.” I can then trust what Romans 12 tells me, that as I lay hold of Him in this way I will be able to prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. And since His promises are always true, I can put my next foot down with confidence, knowing that HE has made my path straight.
I deeply crave that type of total surrender. As a kid we used to play a game where we would fall back into each other’s arms without bracing ourselves. Being kids, it did not always end well, but with God it always does. And oh in that moment of sweet surrender, when we fall back and rest in His promises, not because they are necessarily easier, but because they are His! My heart sings with David the words of Psalm 25 …“Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way. ALL THE PATHS of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land. The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant. My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net.”
So as we walk each day, like little children let us fall into the arms of our Saviour, whose understanding we can trust EVERY time.
walknthepath 