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 (Prov 3:5)
This
was one of the first scriptures I learned when, relatively late in life, I
began to take the Bible seriously. Up
to that point my understanding had been shaped by the philosophies of
naturalism, pragmatism, and intellectual atheism. I had finally come to see
that those systems of belief lead to a dead end – literally. I did an about
face. God turned me around, put His Spirit in me, and started to reshape my
understanding according to His Word. It was a significant step in my journey to
find Truth worth living for.
However,
I still was not living the abundant life that Jesus promised. I was still
troubled by anxious thoughts, self-condemnation, and doubts. An understanding
shaped by God’s word is certainly better than one shaped by atheistic
philosophies, but dare we lean on it? Our scripture says, “No.” Don’t even lean on your own understanding
of the Lord. Lean on the Lord.
Trust Him with all your heart. It’s with our hearts that we wait on Him to
direct our paths. We gain knowledge and understanding of God with our minds as we study His Word,
but our minds are finite so our understanding of God will always be finite –
growing, hopefully, but still limited. However, a heart yielded to the Holy
Spirit within us won’t limit “Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”
(Ephe 3:20). The abundant life is for those who by faith, are sold out
to Jesus – body, soul, and spirit. The apostle Paul said, “The life I live
in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me.” Faith is the key, so that will be the subject of my next
meditation.
