Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.”
My life verse. These two verses are pretty “popular.” In fact, at times I have been almost embarrassed to tell people that these are my life verses. I thought people wanted verses that were more “unusual.”
But these….these are the verses I needed to always remember and to guide me. You see, I’m a little bit of a worrier.
Let’s take it apart:
- Trust in the Lord. Google defines “trust” as: firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. When days get dark, when I am not sure where to turn, when people make fun of me, I remind myself who God is. I believe in Him and His ability to care about the things I care about. My prayers may not be answered the way I want them to, but I believe, I TRUST that God knows best. I am reminded that getting advice from the world may not be the best advice. Do you remember Job’s wife? “Why are you still holding on to the idea that your God can help when he’s not doing anything? You might as well curse God and die.” As the story ends, Job is restored to health and receives double of every earthly good he lost. Job’s decision to trust God no matter what ends up being the correct one. I admit that some days it is easier to talk about trusting God than it is to do it–which is the reason I choose these verses. It is a constant reminder: trust God.
2. With All Your Heart. I must completely rely on His promises, wisdom, power, and love to help me in every circumstance. He is the only one who sees and understands the plan. Human understanding is limited. It is tainted by emotion and frankly human error.
Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” If we trust in the Lord with all our hearts we have hope and need not fear or worry.”
Jeremiah 17: 7-8, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.”
3. Lean Not Unto Thine Own Understanding.
Well, let’s think about that for a second. How do we do that?
We spend time with Him.
We study the words He has given us and taught us.
Be willing to wait for His direction. (I am often impatient and want the answers right away.)
If we take these steps it will help us to allow God to take control and wait and trust Him.
4. In All Thy Ways
ALL. Everything. Every desire, thought, plan.
5. Acknowledge Him.
From what I understand the word translated to acknowledge is “yada” which means to know or recognize. It is to know His ways inside and out and to recognize that God is the ultimate arbiter of our lives.
Webster’s dictionary defines acknowledge: “to recognize the rights, authority or status of someone or something.” In other words, if you are acknowledging someone’s authority, you are acknowledging that they have power over you.
This is a life-altering change. This is an active day after every day decision.
6. And He Shall Direct Your Paths.
All my life I wanted to know what it was that God wanted me to do. “What school should I go to?” “What should I choose for my major?” “Who should I marry?” and many more decisions.
Claiming this verse reminded me that God would direct and that He would not fail me.
Paths go somewhere–there is a destination. So my life has a purpose that God will direct and lead.
This is the kind of life God promises.
To me I remind myself:
Reba, trust in the Lord: not the news, the world, yourself. With your whole heart. Don’t allow sin and worry to have even the smallest part of your heart or mind. Give God all the trust. Lean not unto your own understanding. Reba, you don’t know. You can’t know. God sees and knows the whole plan. Trust Him. In all thy ways. Everything. Acknowledge Him. Give it to God every time you think of it. Make it an every morning decision to give it to God, and He will direct your paths. Relax. it isn’t up to you, Reba. God’s got this.
Do you have a favorite verse? I’d love to hear why you picked it?
I’d love it if you’d subscibe to my blog and share it!
Until next time-this is just me-talking to you-from the wings!
From the Wings 