September 7, Proverbs 3
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 straight your paths. - Proverbs 3:5-6
These are some of the best known verses in the whole book of Proverbs. If folks know and quote anything from the book, it's probably these words. Does it strike you as odd that we who say we believe the Bible sometimes live as if we don’t believe these ancient words? We know them by heart (that is, from memory). But it’s
possible that our hearts may be unaffected by that knowledge. Can you know something by heart, but not in your heart? Allow me to cite a few examples from our modern lives that make me think this could be the case.
Many of us live with unhealthy levels of stress and anxiety. The news media fills our minds daily with new things to worry about. The headlines report a threatening emergency, a
health crisis, social unrest, political corruption, bad news about the economy and worse news about your health. You can feel the anxiety rising
inside you. On top of that, you're facing a perplexing problem with your family. At work, the boss seems to demand more and more work in less time. The stress is cumulative. You
don't know what to do about any of it.
These words present a sharp contrast to all that. They offer an antidote to the poisonous anxiety that threatens to smother you. Trust the Lord. Don't think you have to know all the answers or figure everything out. When perplexing things happen and you can't understand why, remember that peace does not lie at the end of a quest to make sense and know why. Peace is available all along the life
path of trusting God.
We modern humans are a prideful lot, aren't we? It's all about image, self-promotion, self-sufficiency and independence. Among religious
people it often shows up as self-righteousness. Instead of all that, these lines call us to a humble
dependence on God instead of ourselves. Trusting God means we rely on him and not ourselves. We trust what he tells us more than what we can figure out on our own. Trusting in the Lord is a way of thinking and living that disarms our pride. Our pride distances us from
God, but a life of trusting dependence draws us closer to him.
The passage describes a completely surrendered life. It calls us to trust him with all our heart. This isn't half-hearted submission, or divided loyalty or priority. The words say to
acknowledge him in all our ways, not just on certain days or in limited situations. Trusting God is a whole-life way of living that can save us from inner conflict and hypocrisy that only
those who really, completely surrender to him can realize.
The life of trusting God brings the blessing of assurance to our uncertainty. Trusting God and living like we do will provide guidance and
protection as we follow a guide who loves us and a wise counselor who wants to bless us with the best.
Does that sound to you like a better way to live? If anxiety, pride, a lack of commitment and uncertainty are making us miserable, wouldn’t it be better to put our wholehearted trust in God?
Copyright © 2021 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—September 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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