Proverbs 3:5-6
In whom do you place your trust to deal with life and all its problems?
A young man had finished his first semester in college, and was spending the weekend at home.
Somewhat bored with the old home place, he was bragging to his father
about the great things on his campus and about all the brilliant people there.
He said, "Dad, in our chemistry lab at college we have made an acid that will
dissolve any known substance."
The father turned and looked at him and slowly said,
"That's mighty fine. What do they keep it in, son?"
A little home spun wisdom can go a long way.
Proverbs is a book of wisdom.
The wisdom of Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us Who to trust:
"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."
We can trust in God.
Or we can trust in ourselves.
We can depend on God for the resources to deal with life and its problems.
Or we can depend on our own resources.
When we face death, we can depend on our own resources or we can depend on God.
Which do you think will get us to heaven
We can depend on our own attempts to be good, our regular church attendance,
our charitable gifts, our baptism, our good life, and hope that will be sufficient.
Of course none of those things are sufficient.
Our very best is not enough.
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
Trusting God is the ultimate wisdom.
We must trust Him for eternal life and we must trust God for everyday life.
Only God has all wisdom and all power.
A pilot flying his plane during the day is much different and less complicated
than flying at night or through thick storm-clouds.
Flying by sight is totally different than having to fly when all he can see are the instruments.
During the day a pilot can look out the window and maintain the right altitude
and make his own judgements and corrections without little reference to the instruments.
Night flying, or flying through clouds is totally different.
He must depend on his instruments.
An article with the title, "178 Seconds to Live," was about twenty pilots
who flew well in clear weather, but who had never taken instrument training.
Each was put in a flight simulator and instructed to keep the airplane under control
as he flew into thick, dark clouds and stormy weather.
The article stated that all twenty pilots "crashed"
"killing themselves" within an average of 178 seconds.
It took these seasoned pilots with experience less than three minutes to destroy themselves
once they had lost their visual reference points.
Pilots in such situations can trust their own judgment or they can trust their instruments.
If they ignore or doubt their instruments they will crash.
We are faced with the same decisions.
We can depend upon our own skills and experience and we will crash
Or we can upon the wisdom of God and thrive.
We are not to depend on our own understanding.
No matter how smart we are or how capable we are, we are always operating with limited knowledge.
We need more than mere human wisdom.
We need the wisdom of an all-knowing and almighty God.
Our passage from Proverbs emphasizes that we should trust God and not
our own understanding, in "all our ways."
Most of us are selective when it comes to how we apply God's wisdom in our lives.
In our relationships, when we choose our friends we depend on our own understanding
rather than the wisdom of God.
When our work or careers are cutting into our families or ministries we delude ourselves
as to which is more important.
We depend on our own understanding rather than the wisdom of God.
When we are tempted to open our mouths and speak our mind,
we depend on our own understanding rather than the wisdom of God.
Too often we speak when we should remain silent.
Every day we must decide if we trust God on an important issue, or ourselves?
Sad to say, we usually depend on our own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5-6:
"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."
When we acknowledge God in all our ways and when we remember who He is
and what he has done for us and when we remember that He is wise and we are not
He will make our paths straight.
God will direct our way.
That is so good!
Just think!
Not having to find you way out of a dead-end when you are at you wits-end.
God has a plan for your life.
That plan is best for you.
God knows you better than you know yourself.