The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Trust… Lean Not… Acknowledge"
"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).
A wise man, and even more, the Holy Spirit who inspired his words, calls us to "trust… lean not… acknowledge" in order to live our lives as directed by God. We do well to heed his counsel.
First, we trust. We choose to believe that God is faithful and true. The Holy Spirit, the Scriptures, fellow believers, and the Lord's personal working in our hearts and lives incessantly proclaim that He can be trusted "with all thine heart." Only of God can this command apply because only He is perfectly trustworthy. We can trust Him in all because He is all faithful. The Lord has shown us that He "cannot lie" and that "every word of God is pure" (Titus 1:2; Proverbs 30:5). Thus, we unreservedly cast our confidence upon Him. He will not disappoint us.
We also "lean not unto thine own understanding." Note that the mandate does not call us to avoid using our understanding, but rather not to lean on it. As my mother often said, "God gave you a brain to use, Glen!" (she mentioned this, of course, during times - many times - when I had chosen not to do so). Our Heavenly Father often directs us by leading us to think well as we lean on His understanding, believing He will guide our understanding. "Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established" (Proverbs 16:3).
Finally, we acknowledge Him in all our ways. As a matter of doctrinal conviction, based on the clear Biblical teaching of God's involvement in every aspect of our life, we seek to remember and affirm that He graces every pathway of our lives. He is ever there to "direct thy paths" as we believe the promise of His presence and His guidance. This we must believe because it is true, and also because we will experience our Father's guidance only as we trust His assurance to do so. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord" (James 1:5-7).
How we need our paths directed by One with perfect wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. How such a One promises to do so as we look to Him in faith and the confidence of His guidance. A wise man long ago promised such grace, and commanded our response to receive it. May we heed the counsel and follow the mandate, finding our paths to shine ever more brightly with God's light as we "trust… lean not… acknowledge."
"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye."
(Psalm 32:8)
"The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way."
(Psalm 25:9)
"The path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth ever more unto the perfect day."
(Proverbs 4:18)
Weekly Memory Verse
"The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way."
(Psalm 25:9)
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