Words to Live By

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

Probably aside from John 3:16 and Psalm 23, this part of Proverbs is one of the most familiar verses to many people. While many of us have it memorized and can easily quote it, do we flesh it out in our daily lives? Is it evident in the way we speak, respond, and act? When the storms of life hit, the way becomes unclear, or everything seems to be against us, do we take the words literally as our banner of proclamation and maxim? This morning I want to pull these phrases apart and examine them more closely.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart. Have full confidence and reliance in God. Often times we put more confidence in people and what they can do for us. We run to them for comfort, advice, assurance, protection, and strength. Take the most profound person you know and they are still limited in what they can do for you. What help they are able to give you is temporary at best (unless they are directing you back to God). That is why when you call them and pour out your heartache to them, the feelings of sadness and loneliness return as soon as you hang up the phone.

Lean not unto thine own understanding. We are so good at trying to figure things out for ourselves. We use our own thoughts, our own feelings, our own interpretation of things to assist us through the mine fields of our life. We rack our brains into the late hours of the night or early hours of the morning mulling over every possible solution we can come up with. We somehow feel the answer lies in us. We believe if we think it through long enough we will come up with a way to fix our life and move forward.

In all thy ways acknowledge him. Recognize and admit the truth about God. Stand on the reality of His power, presence, and protection available to you. The more difficult our situation the more necessary it is to proclaim the truth about Him.

He will direct your paths. We are not on our own. He is involved in the process of bringing us through this life. His promise rests on His character but is also conditional to our trusting, leaning not, and acknowledging. May this passage become my maxim for life!

Father, saying the words can come easy. I must choose to take each step spelled out in the passage. Help me to do that! Amen.

Do I Trust You, Lord - Twila Paris
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSopilUouw8

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.