Lean Not on Your Own Understanding
Updated: Oct 19, 2022
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
I have a confession to make, and I'm not proud of it. I can get taken down the crooked path of online ads pretty quickly. If there's a new gadget guaranteed to make my life easier, like a wand that turns my garden hose into a pressure washer a firefighter would be proud of, I'm all in! Yes, I understand the psychology of persuasion, and personal experience proves that 99% of these gadgets are junk. I wonder if God shakes His head as He picks me up out of the mudhole at the end of the crooked path, washes me clean, and then lovingly reminds me to trust in Him instead of myself.
We quickly recognize the foolishness of trusting ourselves (or others) with online ads for cheap gadgets. But what about with higher stakes deceptions? Deceptions entice us down the crooked path of doubts about who Jesus is and what He did for us. Making a $19.95 mistake is one thing, but becoming a lukewarm Christian and denying the infallibility of the Bible is another. No. God makes it clear that He wants us to trust in Him–always and completely. He understands that leaning on our understanding is foolish, but trusting in Him shows wisdom. Trusting in the Lord will always lead us down straight paths.
Prayer: Father, as we begin to fall for the world's deceptions and we lean on our own understanding, I ask that You remind us to trust in You–completely–because our paths will always be straight with You. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
