Continuing the the thought of “life verses” from last week (Life Verses – Off to College), perhaps you have read, or memorized, or claimed this as a life verse:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. Proverbs 3: 5-6

Oh, how many times have I leaned on my own understanding? Thinking something over and over, chewing around on it, worrying about it.

Instead of taking it to the Lord right away and trusting him with it, I leaned on my own understanding.

After my husband served as a Minister of Music for several years in our town, he received a call to consider another church. We were very happy at our church, our children were well established in school and with their friends. To top it off, my parents had just moved to our town. All was right with my world.

Jim suggested that we may not know if the Lord was leading in a new direction unless we at least visited the other church. The date was set for the visit, but everything within me cried out, “No, no, I don’t want to go!”

I spent hours worrying and stewing over the possibilities. One day, I walked down the hall to our bedroom and noticed, as if for the first time, the little wooden plaque that hung at the end of the hall. It read, “In all your ways acknowledge him.” 

The word ACKNOWLEDGE stood out like a neon sign to me. I fell to my knees, acknowledging God, realizing that He knew best. I confessed that I had done everything but acknowledge Him.

When we recognize and acknowledge God, we put ourselves in a place to see the shallowness of our own understanding. We realize our need to trust Him.

Then comes the beautiful promise—”He will direct your paths.”

So, back to my story. By the time the visit came around, I had reached a place of surrender. I fully expected that we would be moving.

We made the visit, but when got back in the car, Jim said he was disturbed by a comment the pastor had made and declared, “Well, we’re not going to this church.”

Why then did I have to go through all that? The Lord knew I needed to learn the lesson of trust, the lesson of being willing to surrender to His will.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.

~ Joyce ~