Proverbs 3: 5-8 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. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel,and marrow to thy bones.

Have you ever leaned on someone or something? We all have when we need some support.  Some persons lean on a shoulder in grief, others when weak and unstable; still others use a cane or walker to support their balance.  Notice that leaning normally happens when the person is unable to provide what is needed within their own selves.

In today’s passage, God through His Holy Spirit is admonishing us not to lean on our own understanding.   Have you ever thought you understood a situation only to realize that your understanding was faulty because you did not have the entire picture? I am sure we have at sometime or the other. As human beings our understanding is limited and is often only from our perspective.  That is why it is often so hard to put ourselves in somebody else’s shoes because we come with our own personal biases, experiences, orientation and baggage.  This tells us that leaning on our own understanding is foolhardy as the latter is unreliable and cannot be trusted. Sometimes our very eyes fool us and we cannot believe what we see.

God wants to remind us that unlike our paltry understanding we can trust Him with all our hearts. Trust is very fragile and is easily broken so God saying to us: Look at my track record, turn the page and look back over your life and you will find that trusting in me with all your inner being is the best thing for you. God can be trusted.  God is saying He is giving us divine exclusive access to the intelligence that created the world and sustains it day in day out and we can count and lean on it as it never runs out.  

Trusting God is depending on the Heavenly Father Creator, Jesus Christ our Saviour and the Counselor Holy Spirit to provide direction as ships would on navigational charts.   God wants us to know that as our Creator he made us and knows us inside out, as Saviour He saves us daily and as Counselor he provides well-needed advice.  Therefore He can be trusted to supply what is lacking in our lives. Hence acknowledgement of Him in all our ways is the only sensible thing to do.

So today as you evaluate your life and see the sides that are crumbling and in need of support, turn to the three in one God who will provide access to the necessary equipment that you will need to lean not your understanding but His.

PRAYER

Father, Son & Spirit, we are often guilty of leaning on ourselves and other faulty human beings without even acknowledging your presence.  Forgive us and help us to lean on you in all things and watch your manifold blessings come alive in us.   Amen