Yes! There is Good News! 9.3.2016

Last week I mentioned Proverbs 3:5-6 and talked about it in relation to trusting in the Lord and so having our “paths” made smooth, pleasant and straight. But there was one phrase I never dealt with. Verse 5 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” So what is this phrase about “not leaning upon one’s own understanding?”

I think there are many who believe that they do have a trust in God. If we believe in God and understand He is the creator and sustainer of the Universe, then we have to put our trust in Him. We would be crazy not to! But where do we draw the line in trusting Him and trusting our own understanding? This is a matter of introspection for all of us who desire a deeper relationship with God.

Last week I mentioned that it was with all of our heart that we trust Him. And what did I say the definition of heart was. In Hebrew, “it includes our motives, feelings, affections, desires, aims, principles and our thoughts.” It encompasses the entirety of our personality. So let me ask again, where do we draw the line in our trust? Then the scripture goes on to say, “lean not on your own understanding.”

We humans will certainly have a problem with this statement. But let me ask you; did you create yourself? Did you somehow understand (before birth) how your DNA was to be configured Did your parents? Can you bring forth from one seed, the sprout, the stem and the leaves, then the fruit. This reminds me of the question that God asked Job in Chapter 38 of the book with that title, verse 4, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth? Tell me if you understand. “Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Job had no answer for these and the other questions God asked him. And what of our Savior Jesus? Surely He leaned upon His own understanding, didn’t He? In the book of John 5:19, Jesus said, “Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing by Himself. He can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son does also.” In the same book, chapter 7:16, Jesus said, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from Him who sent me.” In the next chapter, verse 28, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am! And that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.” John 12:49, “For I did not speak of my own accord, but the father who has sent me commanded me what to say and so to speak. John 14:10, “...the words I say to you are not just my own. Rather it is the Father abiding in me who is doing his works. And lastly in 14:24, “He who does not love me will not obey my words. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”

Might I state that the Son of God, in six separate occasions said that He “leaned not on His own understanding.” So where should we draw the line?

Until next time, may you trust in the Lord.