Mensa Otabil - God is Dependable
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Proverbs chapter 3: 5 and 6. 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.
This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It tells us how we must relate to God and depend on Him. And so the scripture tells us to trust in the Lord with all our heart. Not part of our heart, but all of our heart. To trust means to rely on, to depend on, and to have confidence in. So when we trust God, it means that we rely on Him totally. It’s like leaning against a wall and having no reservations that it’s going to break or it’s going to fall.
There are many things in life that we physically rely on and depend upon. That’s how God wants us to trust Him. It’s possible to know God and not trust Him, just like we sometimes know people and don’t trust them. The adversary, the enemy of trusting God, is leaning on your own understanding. So instead of leaning on the Lord, we lean on our own understanding, what we have come to accept as truth. Our own understanding may make sense to us, but our confidence must always be in the Lord and in His promises.
So God wants us to trust Him. It says, «In all your ways acknowledge Him.» To acknowledge God goes beyond being aware of Him. It speaks of having an intimate relationship with Him. God must be close to us; He must permeate every aspect of our lives. I like how the passage puts it: «in all your ways.» Many times we allow God into our lives when we are in church, when we lift up our hands to worship Him, when we sing, and when we pray. In those ways, we acknowledge Him. But then when it comes to our money matters, our marriages, our relationships, our sexual lives, and other areas of our lives, we don’t want to acknowledge Him because somehow we want Him for what we get from Him, but we don’t want Him for who He is.
«In all your ways acknowledge Him.» This means that you bring Him on board in your decision-making process. You factor Him into all the choices that you make. You make God a part of all that you do. He says that if we do that, He will direct our path. I think one of the most essential things everybody needs in life is to have a sense of direction and guidance. I need it; you need it. You want to be sure that the path you’re walking on is right, that the decisions you’re making are right, and that the choices you’re making are right. God will direct your path when you bring Him on board in every area of your life.
Don’t have other areas of your life where God is shut out and other areas where you want Him to be involved. You need money? «God, I trust you.» You need healing? «God, I trust you.» You need protection? «God, I trust you.» But when you need to make a business decision, you might think, «Oh God, you don’t have to come in here.» «In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.» When He directs your paths, He doesn’t just lead you; the context of the passage also means that He removes obstacles out of the way so that you will walk in the path that has been set for you. May the Lord guide you in all your ways, and may you find peace and rest for your soul as you trust Him with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
Let’s share a word of prayer together. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, in You I am completely safe. Help me to trust You unconditionally with all of my heart in Jesus' name.» Amen and amen.