Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV
When I was a teenager, a wise Sunday School teacher (A.K.A. Pastor Odie Carroll) suggested reading a chapter a day from the book of Proverbs; thirty-one chapters coordinate nicely with the days of the month. I did this for years and still love the wisdom of Proverbs today. During the stressful times as a budding adult when so many life-altering decisions must be made, I clung to Proverbs 3:5-6. It gave me much comfort to know that when I didn’t feel sure about what to do, that if I would trust in and acknowledge my Lord, He would point me in the right direction.
As a more “experienced” adult I find myself digging a little deeper into my life verses. Starting at Proverbs 3:1, there are several pairs of verses that essentially tell us, if we do _____, then ________ will be the benefit. IF I 1) forget not the law of the Lord; 2) let my heart keep His commandments… THEN I will have length of days (days worth living, according to the Amplied version!), long life, and peace (Proverbs 3:1-2). IF I 1)Trust in the Lord with all my heart; 2) lean not to my own understanding; 3) acknowledge the Lord in all my ways…. He will direct my paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).
My natural, fleshly inclination is to figure things out, to work them out for my apparent good. A commentary by Chuck Smith on these verses says, “I see Him steering into a storm and I desire to grab the rudder to steer around. [But], so often when we then arrive in the storm, we discover it is calm; the storm has moved right on to where I wanted to steer.” Trust! It doesn’t always seem logical, but we follow a big God who sees far beyond what we see. The Hebrew word for “heart” in these verses as found in Strong’s Concordance refers to “the inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.” It includes knowledge and thinking. It’s not just about feelings. Trust doesn’t allow for constantly striving to have it all figured out, for all to make sense. If we can get to the point of believing more than trying to “lean on” our own ability to understand, life will be much more peaceful! Who am I to think I can understand God’s higher ways?! To “acknowledge Him” in all my ways needs to be a way of life, a daily surrender, of all things, not just the ones we think we need help with. “Lord, what can I do now?” As Psalm 25:1 states, “Unto You, O Lord, do I bring my life.”
For me, as do many of my studies and reflections, much of the struggle to meet the conditions in verse 5 come down to sacrificing my pride and self-preservation. Am I willing to be at peace and allow my good Father to lead me? Can I do so even if I look foolish to people? Am I okay with not being “right”? Will I sacrifice my comfort in order to trust, acknowledge Him, and refuse to lean on what makes sense to me? Prayer, worship, the Word, sitting quietly with the Lord will sometimes give us some vision of the path ahead and sometimes we just have to keep doing the next right thing, and trust, using the information we have at the time! If I’m not leaning on my understanding, I’m leaning on my loving Father and He won’t lead me astray!
