Proverbs 3:5

" Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5

Sometimes my own understanding is quite wrong, and at times very damaging. Has there ever been a time when you have felt so completly lost and confused with where your life is going? I know I have, and when I feel this way it is usally because I am looking at things the way I understand them to be.

Recently Kara graduated to the 2's class at church, and is now learning scripture passages on Sundays. We were sent home with twelve verses on cards that could be stuck to the refrigerator, one for each month of the year. The goal is to practice the verses with Kara throughout the next two years at the same time as the sunday school is going over them in class each week. As you can probably guess, the verse for July is Proverbs 3:5.

This verse is a familiar one, and as with all familiar verses, it seems to have lost its effect on me. I think sometimes when we hear a verse so often, we sometimes become callous to its meaning and impact on our lives. But this verse should truly be one we think about and study on a daily basis when we think about what it is saying.

To trust in the Lord is a very hard thing most of the time, because naturally we would rather trust in something we can see or hear. Its much easier for me to trust Tommy to help me or my parents, because I can see them and know that they are there. We can become so dependent on our human relationships because we are looking to them for guidance and placing our hope and trust in what they can provide for us. This is a big muistake since we all know that every person, know matter how wonderful, will always at some point let us down. This is the differnece between them and God, for God will never let us down and His promises are always fulfilled. Why then do we not trust the Lord with the things of our lives? This must be the question we ask ourselves and commit to changing on a daily basis.

Not only are we to trust God, but we are to trust Him with all of our hearts. I think that this means that with everything we have within us we must trust God to take care of us. There is always something we are holding back from Him, something that we refuse to lay at His feet, but we must fight against this and give everything to Him.

It should be our goal to let go of things the way we perceive them and instead look at them from God's eyes. Our own way of thinking is always tainted by our sin nature and our desire for self gratification. God's way of thinking is pure and holy and it should be our constant aim to think the way He does. As we spend time in scripture and in prayer we can become more Christ-like and more centered on living a life wholly pleasing to Him.

I pray that I can truly trust the Lord with all my heart, and lean on Him for understanding, forsaking my own way of thinking and embracing His holy way of thinking.