“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5
There are so many things about life, that even though you believe in them and want to do them, YET you still have to learn how to do them. Take learning to ride a two-wheeled bike, for example. If you do not approach this as something you have to learn to do, your first attempt can be very surprising.
When it comes to trusting in the Lord, even if we believe in this truth with our whole heart, yet still, as the song says, it is all about “Learning to Lean.”
The learning process usually involves both trial and error. Sometimes, we learn convincingly, from our mistakes. Abram believed in trusting in the Lord. So much so that (Genesis 12:1) in following the Lord, he forsook his native country, left his kindred and his father’s house: “….and went out, not knowing whither he went.” Hebrews 11:8
But as he was sojourning in the land of promise, due to trusting in the Lord, on two occasions he was confronted with circumstances (Genesis 12:10-20 & Genesis 20:1-18) where he failed to lean on the Lord. By trusting in his own understanding, he would have lost his beloved wife, Sarah, had God not intervened.
Divine intervention (deliverance) has been and is essential for all of God’s children, time and again. But after sufficient time and opportunity has passed for us to have learned to lean, eventually we will have to stand by faith, or suffer the consequences.
THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE to learning to lean on the Lord, is the leaning unto our own understanding. This creates skepticism, even unto unbelief. We all have our own ways, our own thoughts, that we rely on for our everyday living. Our conscience and intelligence serve us well, if we use them (they are from God for this purpose.)
But when it comes to spiritual understanding, God tells us it will be necessary for us to forsake our ways and our thoughts to accept His. We must follow Christ’s example, “Not my will, thine be done.”
All too often, our deep-seated views and feelings may not agree with what God’s Word places before us. We are commanded, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
Following God out of trust and leaning not unto our own understand, will prove to have been the right way: “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord.” Hosea 6:3
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7
“And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” Luke 7:23
ONLY BELIEVE!
SHARING
