Guidance

March 14, 2024

”Trust in the Lord with all your heart, 

And lean not on your own understanding; 

In all your ways acknowledge Him, 

And He shall direct your paths. 

Do not be wise in your own eyes; 

Fear the Lord and depart from evil.“ —Proverbs 3:5-7 

Tonight, let’s consider verse six of these verses.

How can we acknowledge God in all our ways? It’s easy to say, but a bit harder to do. It’s easy to acknowledge God when things are going well, but what about when everything goes wrong? Acknowledging God doesn’t mean we have to be happy about bad stuff happening, but to look for what God may want us to learn through the bad stuff. 

We can’t learn courage unless we’re in a place where we are afraid. We can’t learn endurance unless we’re in a situation that’s hard. We can’t learn patience unless we have to wait. We can’t learn to love our enemies until they do something bad to us. We can’t learn to trust God until we are in a place where we can’t know for certain what our next step should be. Mother Theresa said, “You can’t know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”

When we put God at the center of everything, he promises that he“ shall direct your paths.” Life often throws us for a loop. We had a plan and were following it; things were going well when suddenly out of nowhere we get hit with an unexpected catastrophe. What had been a clear path now is dark and obscure; we aren’t sure of our next step. It is unsettling, scary even. 

How can we know for sure that God is directing our paths when we can’t see where they are going? One way only: By believing that God keeps his promises. Even if we don’t know the way, he does. Matter of fact, He IS the Way (John 14:6). Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” Back then, there were no bright flashlights to illumine the road far into the distance. Lamps were little, smoky, flickering flames that barely illumined the next step. God’s Word gives enough light for us to take the next step, but we must trust that even if we aren’t sure of our next steps, God is, and will not lead us astray.