Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. (6) In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
Everytime I read these verses, I am reminded of my sixth grade field trip to
Rock City on Lookout Mountain. I don't remember a great deal about that trip,
but I do remember crossing the swinging bridge. Let me first say, I'm afraid of
heights. (I'll just get that out of the way to begin with.) Everyone else was
going at it with excitement, but I was not feeling it. There was no other way
other than to walk across the swinging bridge, so I began slowly with my steps.
I was beginning to feel more confident about the bridge when about halfway
across, someone decided it would be a good idea to see if the swinging bridge
would really swing. My confidence left me quickly and I had to pray that the
bridge would hold up until I got all the way across. As you can tell, I made it
across and life went on.
"He shall direct thy paths." Isn't that a wonderful thing? We
want God to show us the way, don't we? We want God to be the "guide"
that takes us in the easiest and quickest path to success. Sometimes the fact
of the matter is that we want Him to clear our own path for us so that we can
go the way we want to go without any disruptions. Solomon reminds us that there
are some requirements that we must meet in order to enjoy the blessings of
walking with the Lord. First, we are to simply trust Him and lean not
upon ourselves. It's easy to say that I trust God, but it is quite another
matter to put all my weight upon Him without trying to hold back. Just when I
think I have mastered this thing of trusting God, someone (or something)
decides to start swinging the bridge to cause my trust to be questioned. That's
when I have to decide that I am not going to "lean unto my own
understanding." That is, I'm going to keep going forward and not try to go
backwards. Instead of turning back, I must "acknowledge Him." That
is, I must confess my need for the Lord and for His presence to go with me all
the way. He has promised to "direct my paths." And I can know
that His directions for my life are always correct.