Another Walk on a Well-Traveled Path
Think back on the earlier days of your faith journey. If you went to church and Sunday School you no doubt memorized some well known verses, like John 3:16, or Philippians 4: 13, or Romans 8:28, or maybe the shortest verse in the Bible (also known as the Housekeep verse) from John 11:35 (Jesus wept).
One of the more remembered chunks of scripture is sure to be Proverbs 3:5-6.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don't lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.
We encourage kids to memorize this early on in their faith walk. It is painted onto plaques and hung in houses to remind. The verses challenge a reflective believer to consider every corner of life in light of God. This couplet gets plenty of attention because it covers a lot of territory.
Eugene Peterson translates the Hebrew in the Message in, for me, a more approachable way:
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.
If you would bear with me, let's break this passage down and see how it might help in daily life.
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
This tells me that I am built to trust, the question is what will be my anchor point?
It also speaks to how human nature tends to hold parts of who we are in reserve, where this calls us to throw in completely with God in every area and in any situation.
Trust implies a firm belief in someone else's ability. When we export that to God, that makes words of faith real with the cookies on the bottom shelf.
Don't try to figure out everything on your own.
The good news is that we are not in this alone, God is leaning into your situation.
Jesus promised in John that the Holy Spirit will encourage, lead, prompt and intercede for us when we tune into him.
Our first move in the day might include setting our compass on this heading as a reminder and challenge.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
This looks less like walking around in a super-spiritual haze and more like having our antenna out for "God sightings" folded into the everydayness of life.
If Jesus is invested in us at all, he's all in for us to know him and to grow us up in faith. This means that every event will be used by God to prompt you toward your best version of you.
Taking this approach makes any day a special day.
He's the one who will keep you on track.
This brings us back to trust. Kind of bookends on the thought progression.
We trust him with all we have and believe he is the one to bring meaning and worth to our lives.
It also taps into our heart's desire to have a life that matters.
We tend to stop at verse 6, but the next chunk doubles down on the benefits of trusting God with any/every aspect of your life.
Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!
So, let's loop back to a starting point. Life often faces off with us in challenging and confusing ways. Not long ago I visited with an out-of-town friend who has family issues that resemble a snarled up fishing reel. He's tried everything he knows to untangle the rats' nest of problems. He poured out to me hurt and emotion and frustration. At one point, while fighting back tears on the phone, he said, "I'm out of options. I don't know what to do." He was desperate. We talked through this passage along the lines of what I've written here.
It is times like this when God shines. When I am desperate and out of my depth and am forced to trust in him, that's when a breakthrough can come, first in me and then in what I face. Making "trust in the Lord with all my heart" as my daily default is best for me and mine.
If this mail comes to you in a time of peace and wholeness, take Proverbs 3 to heart to keep trusting and don't assume it will always be sunshine and unicorns. But, if reading this in the midst of some amount of personal or relational chaos, ponder what it means to apply the truths buried in this simple couplet. It can make the difference in your life today; and you just might discover your body glowing with health, and your very bones vibrating with life.
Here's a quote I ran into that applies:
“Things happen to us,
so that things can happen in us,
so that things can happen through us.”
Let's do some music for the week
And some dad jokes for the road
I love my furniture. My recliner and I go way back.
I saw an ad that said "radio for sale $2, volume stuck on full".
I thought to myself, "I can't turn that down".
Someone glued my deck of cards together.
I don't know how to deal with it.
I tripped over my wifes bra.
It appeared to be a booby trap.
For my birthday my children gave me an alarm clock that swore at me instead of buzzing.
It was quite a rude awakening.
A man was recently hospitalised with 6 plastic horses inside of him.
The doctor is describing his condition as stable.
I can always tell if someone is lying just by looking at them.
I can also tell if they are standing.
It's a 5 minute walk from my house to the pub.
It's a 35 minute walk from the pub to my house.
The difference is staggering.