“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy
ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
When God calls upon us to exercise faith, it is to be total and undivided. Our hope, our
confidence must be in God alone. No confidence in the flesh, no reliance on human wisdom.
Naturally we resist that idea in our pride and self-reliance. We want to lean on ourselves, to trust
our own foolish and false ideas.
This is the story of Adam and Eve, and the history of mankind ever since. We want to go our
own way and do our own thing, to lean on our own understanding. But our own understanding is
likely to take us down the wrong path, in the wrong direction. Why?
The human mind by itself, without the illumination of the blessed Holy Spirit, corrupted by the
fall, is a false and untrustworthy guide. Does this mean we are not to use our heads? No,
Absolutely not. Dawson Trotman the founder of The Navigators used to tell us: “God gave you
an awful lot of leading when He gave you a mind.” So faith in God strengthens, enlightens and
invigorates our minds.
Self-dependence is folly and rebellion is ruin. But to trust in the Lord is a dynamic,
adventuresome, exciting life-style. Placing your faith in the power, goodness and wisdom of God
is the most sensible thing you can do.
The next step is to take all the ordinary matters of life to Him in prayer. To give lip service to
God and then try to make do by ourselves in the everyday affairs of life is self-idolatry. Morning
prayer, the practice of taking things to God in the first place, before we have consulted human
counselors or just let things take their course; this is a powerful practice that is much overlooked.
Stick with the Word and prayer. Don't look for strange revelations. Open your Bible and go
through it with a sober, practical and reverent faith. God will not lead you astray. “He shall direct
thy paths.” No step you take that you have prayed over will bring ultimate regret. Naturally you
will never be infallible, but even in your mistakes, God will see you through.
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