Skip to main content

January 9 Believe It!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is He that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died, more than that, who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Romans 8:28-39

These two passages seem to be favorites especially among older, more mature, Christians. They speak, in a nutshell, the best, least stressful way of walking with the Lord. That does not mean, however, that putting these passages into practice is easy. They speak of a learned practice, a trust gained over time that is the true, “worry free philosophy,” from God Himself.

Let’s begin by breaking down Proverbs 3:5-6 into its various parts.

“Trust in the LORD,” Because He is trustworthy and has earned that right.

“With all your heart,” Are you working on rewriting your heart drive? Which is more trustworthy, you or Him? If your heart is being rewritten, then you know which is a safer bet. But, all your heart? Well, if your heart before Christ is deceitful, and God is the God of truth, why not?

“and lean not on your own understanding” We don’t know it all you know. I remember hearing once a very good explanation of why it is not good for us to judge. Put simply, when a situation involves us, we can’t be impartial, but God can. We always see our point of view best. Our way of understanding always tends to favor our side. God, however, loves all equally and is for all equally. Our understanding is flawed, but His is not. He knows the “why,” even if we don’t. When we can trust Him and obey even before we know or understand, He will be pleased with our obedience that demonstrates our trust in Him.

“in all your ways acknowledge Him” Submit everything to Him. Give Him the credit, (praise), for what He has done or is doing. As the author, He deserves the byline to your life, when you are doing life His way. It’s only right. It acknowledges Him and glorifies Him to others.

“and He will direct your path.” Could you do that? Could you really hand the wheel to Him and sit in the passenger seat? I like the passenger seat better than the back seat. It’s too easy to fall asleep or start to drift and miss things back there, but in the passenger seat, you can continue in good conversation, stay aware and provide help, or participate, as needed.

When we trust that all things are working together for our good and that He will never let go of us, it becomes easier to live that Proverbs 3:5-6 life that we’re talking about. The Romans passage explains why we can have so much confidence to trust, follow, acknowledge and be guided. He has our best in mind. Do you believe it?  It’s one thing to say, “yes,” and another to prove, “YES!” Go for it and leave the driving to Him.



Trust in the Lord

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October 27 Save the Glaze for the Bunny

Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips of an evil heart. A malicious man disguises himself with his lips. But in his heart, he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it. If a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him. ~Proverbs 26:23-28 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. T...
Post a Comment
Read more

July 16 Thick Skinned Love

Whoever covers over an offence promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. ~Proverbs 17:9 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ~Matthew 18:15  The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ~1 Peter 4:7-8  Being offended seems to be the battle cry of the day. Instead of freedom of speech, everyone has the right not to be offended. If one is offended, then one has the right to exact vengeance on the offender because, of course, the offender KNEW that he or she was being offensive and just didn’t care. Is that how you see much of society behaving today?  There seems to be all of this offending and finger pointing that just keeps growing and growing. Nothing is being resolved, just more blame that grows louder a...
Post a Comment
Read more

January 24 You’ll See, He Remembers

The wise inherit honor, but fools He holds up to shame. ~Proverbs 3:35 “Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.” ~Isaiah 3:10 “God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” ~Hebrews 6:10-12 “The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them. The sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.” ~1 Timothy 5:24-25 “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” ~Matthew 12:36-3...
Post a Comment
Read more