As we continued to drive through the countryside, we continued to meditate on these verses. God was truly sending a message to us and it is a message that we, as believers, need to always remember and have written on our hearts in indelible ink. There are two very valuable lessons in those verses that should be the basis for all of our actions in life.
The first is that we need to trust in the Lord and learn not to use or depend on our own judgment or understanding. It is too easy for us to follow our own desires which can be misguided by the ways of this world. We see things that we want or desire or want to do things that we think are best for us. We should be trusting God in all that we do and not looking to others or ourselves for the answers to our situation. It is so easy for us to follow our own judgment and understanding. We think we know better and we do not rely on God to guide our steps.
The Psalmist writes in Psalm 37, “23 The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” As Christians, our steps along the path of righteousness are laid out before us by the Lord and are directed by Him. The direction of our steps should not be our own.
Think about it this way. While my wife and I were driving around Georgia, we relied on the GPS in my phone to get us from point to point. I am sure many of you have heard stories about how the maps are sometimes wrong. I have had my fair share of map errors when I trusted exclusively in my GPS. But, there is a GPS that will never fail you. It is not the one you are thinking about. It is the one called “God’s Plan for Salvation (GPS).” If we follow that GPS, we are never going to be led astray or lost in a field or dead end. God will always show us the way by directing our steps and making sure that each step is placed solidly on the firm rock of our faith. There is nothing left to chance when we allow the Lord to direct our steps and we can rest most assuredly on the fact that we will never get lost or directed to an unknown or wrong destination.
The other lesson from Proverbs 3 is that we should seek His will in everything that we do. It is not enough to simply casually pick and choose which steps are our own or should be left to God. All of our steps should be guided by Him by seeking out His will in our lives and everything should be done in accordance to His will. When we do that the Lord will show us the path that we need to take. We do not have to question the next steps along the path. God will make sure that we have the right directions and that we will reach our destination.
Jeremiah writes in chapter 9, “23 This is what the LORD says: ‘Don't let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. 24 But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things.’ I, the LORD, have spoken!”
By understanding the Lord, we begin to understand the measure of His love for us. It is unfailing and eternal. We also understand that God is just and righteous and that He delights in these things. These are the traits of God and we can rest assured that there is no wavering in the Lord. The Lord is always just and righteous and eternal. When we rely on other things or boast about our knowledge, power or riches, we are telling God that He does not matter to us. We have done everything through our own power and capacity. By doing that, God is pushed out of our lives and becomes nothing more than a footnote. We begin to trust our own understanding and we soon find ourselves no longer seeking His will in our lives. We have relegated Him to a position of being unimportant in our lives and we, by our actions, tell Him that we do not need Him at all.
Over the past couple of years, I have heard celebrities say that all that they have and are is due to their works. Some even go as far as to say that God had nothing to do with it. It was all their hard work and effort. When we become that arrogant to believe that and no longer understand our relationship with the Lord, we will soon find ourselves making the wrong decisions in our lives. We no longer follow God’s wisdom and His direction of our footsteps. In time, we soon find ourselves lost and in a place we do not want to be. Remember the story of the earthly GPS and the stories of people getting lost when they trusted it. By trusting the heavenly GPS, we can know that we will find our heavenly destination and that we will always remain on the path of righteousness.
In Psalm 20, the psalmist writes, “7 Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the LORD our God. 8 Those nations will fall down and collapse, but we will rise up and stand firm.”
If we rely on the things that we know and trust and not in God, we are surely destined to fall down and collapse like the nations of old. If we keep our trust in the Lord and seek His will in all that we do, we, without any doubt, know that we “will rise up and stand firm.” We do not have anything to fear or worry about when we are grounded in our faith and follow God’s wisdom and allow Him to lead us through life. No matter where we go in life, God will make sure that we will never get lost nor feel that we have been abandoned or forsaken.
As you start a new week, I ask that you always seek God’s will and that you trust His wisdom and not your own. If you do that you will have nothing to fear or to dread. God will always lead you to peaceful green pastures and provide you living water. He always looks after His children and will not allow anything to harm them or bring them destruction.
Jeremiah writes in chapter 29, “11 ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.’”
If we truly seek Him with our hearts, we will find Him. If we truly listen and trust Him, we can rest assured that we will see His “plans for good and not for disaster” that will give us a future and a hope.
By trusting in His wisdom and seeking Him in everything we do, we will know that we can stand firm in His grace.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
No comments:
Post a Comment