All Your Heart - Proverbs 3:5-6

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5‭-‬7 CSB

I trust the Lord. That’s what believers do. 

And yet, there are times I act like one of Judah’s kings and start trusting in my own wisdom instead of relying on His.

And I’m supposed to trust Him for a long time. And in seasons of my life, I’ve done it. 

And in seasons I have worked my own plan. Which works about like throwing a monkey wrench into the gears of my life. 

I attended a Christian High School and this passage was THE theme verse for our school. It was quoted by the student body at gatherings. It seemed to be a particular favorite of our headmaster. 

Even though we hit the books and most of us attended a four year university, this was the main thing they never wanted us to forget. They understood that if we got this backwards, all of that math, English and history were going to be worth so much garbage. 

Why does King Solomon, the collector and writer of these proverbs, say trust in the Lord with ALL of your heart. 

Here’s why: I have the weird capacity to trust in a half-hearted way. Which leads to garbage can performance. In some ways, I think no heart is better than half a heart. With no heart, you at least aren’t fooling yourself into thinking you are trusting. But that half hearted trusting is sinking sand. I love the Lord! Kinda. 

All.

How do I even do all? 

Ironically, I do it by following the wisdom of this passage. I don’t lean on my own understanding. 

See, my own understanding IS going to lead me astray when it is not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

The apostle John tells me to walk in the light as He is in the light. 

I can’t. God can. So I do it empowered by Him. 

And even when I’m regularly seeking the Lord, there is a lot of in and out of focus. 

And when I say focus here, I really don’t think this requires some super heroic mental performance. It’s a mindset thing. It’s a training thing. It’s a  consistency thing. It’s a daily thing. 

It’s not about gritting my teeth. It’s about joining Him. It’s about being with Him. It’s about following clear instructions. 

How do I get those clear instructions. In ALL my ways, I know Him. 

I don’t have a Spiritual toggle switch. Some days I act like a child of God. Then the next, I’m not going to. I’ll catch up with Him later. No. I might want to think I have a toggle. God tells me I don’t. 

That would be like having a switch on my marriage. I’m married. Period. Even when my spouse and I aren’t together, we are married. I don’t get to turn that switch off. 

And on a side note, I think that’s why God hates divorce. Marriage is supposed to be a picture of how He loves the church. If we are in then we are out, this points to chaos, not God’s love. God is love not chaos.

In all my ways know Him. Nothing gets hidden from Him. I’m seeking Him in all of it. And He works on me like Michelangelo works on a huge piece of marble. Only, I’m harder to work on. Michelangelo worked for months or years to get what he was after. God’s been working on me for over half a century. 

He makes my paths straight. He makes it easier for me. He clarifies the road for me. 

Now, there is still testing. There has to be. Testing teaches me. If I didn’t have a reason to trust God, why would I. If I didn’t have a reason to have faith, I would have a very weak faith indeed. 

And I might think I have a very weak faith, but I know this: even when my faith seems so weak to me, he is chiseling on me. He’s making me new. He’s working on me. Today. 

Lord, Work on me. I know I need your wisdom. I know that I want to jump into things that aren’t right for me. You use scripture. Prayer. Godly friends. Sermons. You use them all in my life. I want to walk in the light and trust you with all of my heart. Teach me and correct me when I don’t. Make me presentable. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.