Faith Opportunities

I had a rough day the day before and I did by best not to let it weigh on me as I sat in the shower with my mind toggling between praying and trying to figure it all out. I desperately wanted some direction since I hate not knowing what to do or expect. Like many of you, I struggle with things I do not understand. You see, I am one of those obsessive thinkers. My mind stops only when I give up trying to fix it myself and turn it over to Jesus to handle. But old habits only die through persistence with good ones. It hasn't become instinctive to give it straight to Him without trying to fix it in my head first.  

While I was still in the shower, my mental storm suddenly stopped and I felt the words, "Lean not on your own understanding" being spoken to me. It took a few seconds before I realized God was snapping me out of another one of my fix-it moments. I had been trying to understand something on my own that I had no line of sight into. I was about to pass up a chance trust my King. I had to make a choice. I could weigh myself down trying to figure out things or I could take this opportunity to grow in faith by trusting God with my problem. In that moment, I gave it to Him.

I knew the words spoken to me came from the Holy Spirit. They also are words found scripture. But I couldn't remember where, so I looked it up. Here's what scripture says: 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

As I spoke that over and over in my mind, I headed for my morning coffee. I felt challenged to consider the words carefully. Here is what I came away with:

1. Trust in the Lord is where our faithful talk gets put into a faithful walk. We humans are so stubborn that we have the urge to feel our own way through when we can't see a thing. Sitting still doesn't come natural to many of us. But I have been feeling my way around for far too long. I've missed out on too many faith opportunities. I have more peace when I trust God with my junk. 

2. Lean not on your own understanding means stop trying to think you get it. Stop trying to figure stuff out on your own because all you'll come away with is what's on the surface. You won't be able to see deep into the hearts of others.  It's hard for us to accept that we can't see as well as we think we can.  But God knows the root of everything. He knows our hearts even when we do not. 

3. In all your ways, submit to Him means that we have to yield. We have to let Him go ahead of us and wait for Him to walk at His own pace. He will fight our battles. He already knows everything, He doesn't have to think about it to figure it out. He promises to take care of us, but a lack of belief is what keeps us from being hands-off. We have to quit being in such a hurry to get past every hurdle and learn to wait with full trust that we serve a faithful God. 

4. He will make your paths straight means He will provide direction. Direction is what we all want, right? I think most of us feel like we have no idea what we're doing in some area of our life. But here's the kicker - true direction comes when we trust Him and not our own selves. We don't get direction from trying to fix everything. It comes with submission to let Him lead, willingness to wait on Him and trust that He is working things out for our own good even when we can't see anything happening. We are never more blind than in our "I'll fix it myself" moments.

Here's another thing that happened to me on this day. I had bought a new coffee mug less than 48 hours ago that read: Trust in the Lord. I didn't put two and two together right away.  But my eyes met my cup as I was pondering the scripture and I realized God was at work on this matter long before it even happened. He knew what I would need long beforehand. It's no coincidence that the words come from the same verse He spoke to me during my struggle. 

God cares about our details. His word says He is at work to make all things work for us and not against us. I challenge you to practice trusting Him in your hardest moments. You'll never be more blessed. My own hardest moments have crucial in learning just how much He cares.