I'm sure that we make more out of the New Year than God does. Though, He is a God of New Beginnings. As the New Year approaches many plans are being made concerning changes, and how to make the year ahead better than the past one. Of course we will start it off with a party. We've been well trained for that. And we'll share advice with each other. And possibly we will share a verse of Scripture to live by with someone for the new year. One verse that would be good for all of us any year is Proverbs 3: 5 - 6 ;
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5,6)
Trust does not come easy for most of us. Society teaches us to trust no one but ourselves. We have been hurt enough times that trusting another is difficult. Yet, if there was someone who has a proven record of faithfulness - that person we could trust. If there were someone who had the ability to handle anything, absolutely anything, and do so with our best in mind - that person we could trust. If there was someone who had the ability to see us as we are, knowing our very heart and yet love us - that person we could trust. If there was someone who had all knowledge and understanding - that person we could trust. If there was someone we knew who would be completely honest with us, always encouraging us to be what we should be, and had the ability to make us better than we are - that person we could trust. Yes, such a person as this we could trust.
There is such a person. He beckons us to Himself. Such a person has and continues to seek us out. He has come to us, Immanuel. He has provided and cared for all that would separate us from Him. He is worthy of absolute trust. He remains faithful though all have forsaken and fled. He is the I AM. He is the Holy One. He is God. Let us fling ourselves in reckless abandon upon Him. Let us look to Him in all things for all our days. To trust others without first and foremost trusting God is futile and hopeless. In Him alone is our trust secure. Trust in the Lord with all your heart!
Keep Close to Jesus.
I watched as the man on our road construction site took a short break by leaning upon the handle of the shovel. Suddenly the shovel slipped and the man fell to the ground. We chuckle thinking to ourselves, "Why did he put is full weight upon the shovel? How foolish." We should ask this question cautiously, for a similar, far more penetrating one comes back to us - why do we base our lives upon something as insecure as our own understanding?
Somewhere in our "enlightenment" we humans have concluded that we can accomplish anything by understanding - through intellect and reason. Given enough time and knowledge, we can explain anything, correct all of society's ills, heal any disease, create a utopia for ourselves... How often in times of trouble we search out someone who "understands" what we are going through? This is not to imply that the one who understands cannot help. But, the underlying rationale to seeking an understanding soul is that only he/she can help. Another underlying thought is that if we understand, then we will be able to deal with the problem. The problem is that both are incorrect. It is possible that someone who hasn't been through what we are facing is in a better position to help than one who has. Also, our understanding is finite. It is unable to understand everything. Only God can do that.
Another problem is that sin doesn't make sense. Why do some people delight in murdering others? Why do so many take such pleasure in revenge? Why do people take drugs? Drink their life away? Smoke knowing the cancer risk? Participate in promiscuous sex knowing the disease risk; molest and abuse children... Does any of this make sense? Can it be explained? Or will understanding it and being able to explain it make it disappear or easier to handle? Will understanding heal the memory or make it easier to forgive? We think it does. But it doesn't. It can't.
God directs us to lean not on our own understanding! What we need is not understanding, but biblical truth and wisdom. Biblical truth and wisdom are not always reasonable according to human thought. "God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts not our thoughts." As Douglas F. Kelly said in his article, "Afraid of Infinitude" (CT 1-9-95); "Human reason must adjust itself to God's being and not the reverse." Do not be mistaken! Reason has its place and should not be surrendered. Reason is a God given gift. Christianity is a thinking religion! God instructs us, "Come and reason together." But true reason knows its limitations. The directive here is not, "do not understand (reason)". It is "lean not on." John Wesley said it well in his sermon "The Case of Reason Impartially Considered":"Let reason do all it can; Employ it as far as it will go. But, at the same time, acknowledge it is utterly incapable of giving either faith, or hope, or love; and consequently, of producing either real virtue, or substantial happiness. Expect these from a higher source, even from the Father of the spirits of all flesh."
Keep Close to Jesus
There are times when a word captures my attention. I wonder why that particular word used is that spot; Or, how wonderfully it fits; Or, it mysteriously compels deeper study. Such is the case with the word "acknowledge" in this verse. I am fascinated by it. It seems to me to be a weak word for such a powerful injunction. What does it mean for us to acknowledge God? According to a poll I recently read, 96% of Americans believe in God. Do all of these people "acknowledge God?" Just what does it mean to "acknowledge God?"
As a child I would ask my mom what a word meant. Rather than tell me the meaning she would lead me in an exercise to decipher its meaning. It was frustrating then, but a valuable tool now. First I was " read it 'in' the sentence." What words is it used with? What is the sentence saying? In this case the mandate in the verse is clear - do not lean on human reason and methodology to live our lives, but trust in God with all our hearts. Therefore, "acknowledge" must have to do with trust, with faith. It is more than an intellectual assent to the fact there is a God. It is more than a nod of acknowledgment that He probably exists. Acknowledge appears to mean a faith and dependence upon God. Maybe it isn't the weak word after all.
The next step is to look it up. According to Webster "acknowledge" means "to admit to be true; recognize the authority or claims of; to admit or affirm as genuine." If we accept a partial meaning of the word we can say that those 96% of Americans do acknowledge God. They would admit that He is true, He's genuine. But note that it also means to "recognize the authority of." This is a different story. Though many would accept His existence, they do not recognize His authority. To acknowledge God appears therefore to mean that we submit to His authority. In faith we capitulate to His will.
There is another dimension to this word. It is a translation of a Hebrew word. Therefore, if we are it to hear it fully we need to discover its original meaning as best we can. Looking at the different translations helps here. The other translations I used the same word - acknowledge. Hebrew scholars tell us that it carries the meaning: "to recognize our wills are subject to His; trusting God, possessing a trusting attitude, quite confidence; understanding of God's Sovereignty over our life."
Now we come back to the question at hand; do we acknowledge God? Have we given ourselves over to His Lordship in our lives? Do we live out our lives in trusting surrender to His will and way? Is each step I take in life an acknowledgment of God's existence and Lordship? We answer these questions in word and deed everyday. Let us be sure we are in all our ways acknowledging God!
Keep Close to Jesus
There is a segment of this verse that is easily overlooked. We read it thinking that the wise one took some poetic license and really didn't mean what he said. Really now, trust with ALL our heart; acknowledge in ALL our ways!? Isn't this a bit much? Isn't this a little overboard; a little fanatical. We're not comfortable with the entirety of this verse, are we? Wilbur Rees captured the plea of all too many Christians:
"I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please."
But it is not poetic license here. As uncomfortable as it may be the mandate is consistent with all of Scripture. We are called to be holy and the essence of holiness is to love the Lord our God with ALL our hearts, ALL our souls, ALL our minds, and ALL our strength. Jesus told us that this is the first and foremost command. It is the fulfillment of the law. Life in Christ is this demanding, this inclusive. Thank God we are not left to our own resources to accomplish it. He has given the empowerment and enablement of His Spirit and grace to us. God Himself is "sanctifying us through and through" and "He who has begun a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." A consecrated life is enabled to live holy; all-inclusive.
We are left with a self-examining question - are we drawing upon His resources to trust and acknowledge Him in ALL our ways? How are we acknowledging Him in our speech, our work, our purchasing, our giving, our relationships, our thinking, our acting, our driving, our playing, our ... in ALL our ways with ALL our hearts - there is no other way.
Keep Close to Jesus
He will direct your path is the way that this verse ends in the King James Version. Whether the paths are made straight or we are directed which one to take, the promise remains the same, God will be in charge directing us. But, there is a condition on this promise. We are not very comfortable with conditional promises. To modern ears, conditional promises are not real promises. This is not true, but it is the way we tend to think. Here we are told that God will direct our lives only if we give absolute fidelity and loyalty to Him.
Our discomfort is due to our failure to understand the condition. It is two fold. First, the only people who desire God's direction are those who love and acknowledge Him. The sinner does not want God's direction. Self-rule is their desire. Without acknowledging God in all our ways we are left to our own sense of direction which is ruled by our lusts and desires and leads to destruction. God's will and direction are only of interest when they suit our fancy, improve our life (according to our standards of course), or we have come to an impasse and really don't know what to decide. Without total trust and surrender to His Sovereignty we are not able to be directed by Him.
Second, only when we are in tune with God can we recognize His guidance. We speak of discovering God's will, as if God were playing hide and seek with us. Finding His will is more of being in tune, being readily receptive, than discovery. God promises that He will direct our paths. We can trust Him. Oswald Chambers said that God's guidance was more of a "thumb in the back" than audible instruction. This type of guidance requires acute perception. The life that is absolutely subordinate to God is one that has such sensitivity to Him. When we are struggling to know God's will the problem is on the receiver's end, not the sender! Are there times when God is silent? Yes. But in these times we remain faithful to what we know and continue to trust with all our hearts. His silence is never forever and is purposeful. Our trusting with all our hearts and refusal to lean on our own understanding keeps our lives tuned into God's frequency. Only then is He able to direct us.
Does this understanding change the conditional nature of this promise. No. But it does help us realize that God makes these requirements for our own good. He could demand them, for He is God. Nevertheless, His Word reveals that His commands are given in grace for our benefit. To disregard or chafe under them is our own demise. Therefore, "let us trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding; in all our ways acknowledge Him and let Him direct us!"
Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry