“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
We all know our hearts. We want to serve God but it seems really hard. We either get in a rush and forget to seek His will or we are fearful of what might happen or we have our own solutions that we desire. When that happens we go back to seeking our own way instead of God’s. As a result Solomon gives us the key to trusting in the Lord.
In all your ways When we look for a secret key to serving God we hunt for some deep spiritual insight. Instead Solomon starts his counsel with a little phrase we all have recited many times yet we often pass – a great truth in the verse that could change our lives. The Hebrew word means a course of action or a way of life. It denotes a journey (the manner in which one lives). In the Bible this word often signifies the moral and spiritual path one chooses, whether to
be obedient or disobedient to God’s commandments. Solomon tells us what he is about to say should impact every single part of our life – no exceptions.
Acknowledge Him In every part of life we are to acknowledge God. When we first read this we think about praying for decisions we must make. This is definitely included but the word acknowledge is much deeper than that. The Hebrew verb yada signifies “to know, recognize”.
When we acknowledge God, we recognize His authority in every are of our life and especially the one we are engaged in at the moment. Whether it is work, friends, music, games, or entertainment,
we acknowledge that He is Lord over that area of our life, We seek to know how we are to glorify Him in that part of our life. But acknowledging Him goes further than just His right to order us to obey. We acknowledge His love for us – that He truly cares and wants the best for us. We acknowledge His commands are just and right. We acknowledge His righteousness – that sin is evil and wrong and we do not want it in our lives for it is rebellion to God. Thus to acknowledge or know God is a moment by moment life- style.
And He Depending on the desire of our heart, God acts. If we vacillate between wanting God’s will and our own will, we become double- minded. In that case God’s blessing is withheld while we pursue he desires of our hearts.
Shall direct your paths If we seek God’s will, we experience His blessing. He directs (make straight, even, right, pleasant, or
prosperous). We se this in the wise men seeking the Lord. They acknowledged God was in control and would fulfill His word to
send the Messiah to earth. As they acknowledged Him, God directed their paths. He sent a star begore them that guided their path to the Messiah. Today God does not use stars to guide our path, instead he orders circumstances and events to move us where He desires us to be – the place where great joy and blessing reside.
What can we learn? Living this verse out in our lives will transform us. Think of Daniel. Before he was taken captive his parents taught him God’s word. This verse is likely one he memorized. When he got to Babylon was this the verse he meditated on that led him to make the decision he would not defile himself? On a daily basis throughout his life, Daniel acknowledged God was the sovereign in His life and
God directed his path. What was the result? He was called a man ‘greatly beloved”.