Life Ministries

Proverbs 3:5-6

     “God has a plan, a future, a hope, with our name on it, and He is willing to give us every form of assistance we need to live out His perfectly designed plan.” However, as with most of God’s Word or His promises, we find that we must do our part, and God will do His. The reward of “straight paths” is available if we follow the three directives that precede it; Trust the Lord with all your heart; Lean not on your own understanding; and in all your ways acknowledge Him.”

These three are our part of the bargain, so to speak, and if we do our part; He will make our paths straight.
    I want to follow up on those three directives because I think there is more wisdom to be found in this scripture. But I also want us to remember that God uses the plural here - “paths.” We have several paths in life, such as an educational path; a financial path; relationships path; an emotion-al path; a career path; as well as a spiritual path. God will make them all straight if;
#1. We trust Him with all our heart.
    “Trust” is the key. To trust means to rely on for security; to depend upon in many areas of need; and to have complete confidence in something or someone. Trust is the most dynamic concept of any relationship. I think that’s why it is listed first.
    For those who are married or have been married, think about how important your trust in your spouse is or was in your relationship, and how these three areas of security; dependence; and confidence come into play. All kinds of problems stem from a lack of trust in any one of these three areas. And, when there is a lack of trust, the relationship is destroyed. How many know that it takes a long time to restore a lost trust. In many cases it never happens.
    For those who find themselves alone, by choice or by circumstance, let me ask this; who is your trust in?  Is it in yourself? Have you resolved to make your own way in life?  Who do you depend on? Where is your confidence? If it is in the Lord your God, you are on the right track.
    When we begin to put our trust in God, and He becomes our security, and we depend on Him to provide our every need. Because we love Him, we can have confidence that He is always faithful and just, and “in all things will work for our good” which is another way of saying “he will make our paths straight.” 
    Secondly, God will make our paths straight if we can learn to “lean not on our understanding.” This was a hard lesson for me to learn. The story behind all of that is in my book “By His Hand” (Available at Amazon.com) Okay, back from our commercial break….It simply means that we need to be cautious about making decisions or responding to people, or circumstances based on human perspective; or feelings; or reasoning. What do you suppose Moses thought when God told him to put his staff in the water? Maybe he thought God wanted to see how deep it was! Or, find out where the rocks were! Do you think Moses had the slightest inkling that the sea would part and they would cross on dry ground? Again, what do you suppose was going through Joshua’s mind when God said “Just march around the city seven times and give a shout!”… “Lean not on your own understanding.”
    Human judgments are always limited and usually wrong. What we see, hear, feel, from our perspective may cause any one of the big three: doubt and fear and worry. But when that happens we need to go back to directive #1 – “Trust”…and follow it up with #2 Lean not on our own understanding!
    O.K. #3 – “In all your ways acknowledge Him.” Remember that little word “all”…not in some ways or not just in some paths…like “I can acknowledge God when it concerns my spiritual path, but I’m not sure about my career path or my financial path…?  All means all! It means to recognize His presence, wisdom, guidance, power, and authority in every area of our life because God is involved in every area of our life!
    “In all your ways” sounds a little like “with all your heart” doesn’t it?  And, it does not mean we can acknowledge Him 9 times out of ten…or 99 times out of 100 but ALways! It doesn’t mean only when we need Him, or only when we are around each other, or in times of crisis, but all the time!
    And, we must acknowledge Him in all our “paths”… for instance: we need to acknowledge God in our relationships; have you thanked God lately for His presence, His power, His wisdom and authority, His guidance in your marriage? Someone may say; “Well, I’m not married”! Well, how about in your family or church relationships?  Now I’m going to step on some toes…Do you really acknowledge God in your finances; or do you decide how much is enough? The Bible says in Deut. 8:18 – It is God “who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” So, what about in your career? God says “whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord.” In our spiritual walk we need to acknowledge that we are nothing without God in our lives. If we want the blessing of “straight paths” then we must yield it all to Him!

“Straight paths”… How many straight paths? … ALL of them!