Reason #776
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6
I learned this verse in Bible Drill, which means I had to be younger than 12. In fact, this verse and Psalm 56:3, "When I am afraid I will trust in you" are the only two verses I remember learning specifically in Bible Drill. That being said, I've known that verse for 14 years now, and just this week I saw it in a new light.
I never really paid attention to the fact that paths is plural. I've always thought of it as 'the path.' The one single path that God has planned for my life, and I wanted to make sure I stayed on it. The path that would determine how my days went and what I did with my life. This path that would lead me to the Lord and also be pleasing to the Lord. I wanted to be sure I didn't leave the path, but I never thought about there being more than one.
Proverbs promises us that He will make our paths straight when we trust in Him with all of our heart. Paths? What paths? Well, your career path, your family path, your relationship path, your financial path, your extracurricular path, and any and every other path you can think of. Because God has a plan for every area of our lives, and that means we've got a lot of different paths we can take. The truth is, we end up trusting God with some of our paths, yet keeping control of the others. We may trust Him with our health and finances, but not with relationships or our career. We may stay on the path in one area, while we venture off in another. Let's face it, it's just human nature to want to be in control. Like we say at the bank, "trust but verify." And so we do that with the Lord. We say we trust, but then we try to sneak around Him and figure out what's going on. We determine the path we'd like the walk and then we try to manipulate the situation and force His hand as if He is required to bless our selfish efforts. The next thing we know, we've wandered every which direction, totally messed things up, and we can't figure out how to get back to the start. The beauty of it, however, is that at any point when we start trusting God, no matter where we are or aren't on the path, He'll begin to make it straight.
I trust the Lord with the paths I am on, but I have a hard time trusting Him with the ones I have yet to get to. The unknown paths, those are the ones that get me. It's those paths that make me want to grab the reigns and start directing. It's those paths, the ones I hope to walk down eventually but not certain when I will, that make the most nervous. The paths that hold mystery and are clouded with the untold surprises of what's to come, those are the paths that I stress and worry about. But when we trust God with ALL of our heart, even with the uncertain, broken, confused, achy parts, He will make ALL of our paths straight. Sure, we may not know what the path has in store, but all straight paths are leading us to God. No matter what we walk through as we move down them, it will pull us closer to Him. And if we're walking closer to God, moving towards Him with every step we take, we know we can't ever be headed in the wrong direction.
#776 - Because He directs ALL of our paths.
"Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared." - Psalm 119:33-38
I learned this verse in Bible Drill, which means I had to be younger than 12. In fact, this verse and Psalm 56:3, "When I am afraid I will trust in you" are the only two verses I remember learning specifically in Bible Drill. That being said, I've known that verse for 14 years now, and just this week I saw it in a new light.
I never really paid attention to the fact that paths is plural. I've always thought of it as 'the path.' The one single path that God has planned for my life, and I wanted to make sure I stayed on it. The path that would determine how my days went and what I did with my life. This path that would lead me to the Lord and also be pleasing to the Lord. I wanted to be sure I didn't leave the path, but I never thought about there being more than one.
Proverbs promises us that He will make our paths straight when we trust in Him with all of our heart. Paths? What paths? Well, your career path, your family path, your relationship path, your financial path, your extracurricular path, and any and every other path you can think of. Because God has a plan for every area of our lives, and that means we've got a lot of different paths we can take. The truth is, we end up trusting God with some of our paths, yet keeping control of the others. We may trust Him with our health and finances, but not with relationships or our career. We may stay on the path in one area, while we venture off in another. Let's face it, it's just human nature to want to be in control. Like we say at the bank, "trust but verify." And so we do that with the Lord. We say we trust, but then we try to sneak around Him and figure out what's going on. We determine the path we'd like the walk and then we try to manipulate the situation and force His hand as if He is required to bless our selfish efforts. The next thing we know, we've wandered every which direction, totally messed things up, and we can't figure out how to get back to the start. The beauty of it, however, is that at any point when we start trusting God, no matter where we are or aren't on the path, He'll begin to make it straight.
I trust the Lord with the paths I am on, but I have a hard time trusting Him with the ones I have yet to get to. The unknown paths, those are the ones that get me. It's those paths that make me want to grab the reigns and start directing. It's those paths, the ones I hope to walk down eventually but not certain when I will, that make the most nervous. The paths that hold mystery and are clouded with the untold surprises of what's to come, those are the paths that I stress and worry about. But when we trust God with ALL of our heart, even with the uncertain, broken, confused, achy parts, He will make ALL of our paths straight. Sure, we may not know what the path has in store, but all straight paths are leading us to God. No matter what we walk through as we move down them, it will pull us closer to Him. And if we're walking closer to God, moving towards Him with every step we take, we know we can't ever be headed in the wrong direction.
#776 - Because He directs ALL of our paths.
"Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared." - Psalm 119:33-38
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