Grandparents/Special Person’s Day
27 November 2013
Trust
in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all
you ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.
- Proverbs 3:5-6
Blessed Jesus, at Thy word We
are gathered all to hear Thee; Let our hearts and souls be stirred Now to seek
and love and fear Thee, By Thy teachings, sweet and holy, Drawn from earth to
love Thee solely.[1]
Trying to understand God’s will in your
life is not always easy. He doesn’t send you an e-Mail or a tweet. Or, send you
a text. Or, write on your wall on facebook to say, “I want you to be a preacher or a missionary, or a mechanic or a nurse
or a housewife.”
God doesn’t name the person you are to
marry. He doesn't tell you which career track you should follow. He doesn’t tell
you whether you should go to college or not. Or, which school you should
attend. Sometimes life is complex with all these decisions. But in psalm 32:8.
God does promise, “I will instruct you
and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will guide you with mine eye.”
As always, God instructs and teaches us His will through His Word.
Solomon gives us three conditions by
which we can know God’s perfect will for our lives.
The
First Condition, you must “Trust in the Lord.” This is absolutely the first step. It you want
to know God’s will learn to trust Him. You must first trust Christ as your
Savior. You cannot attempt to know God’s will in other areas until this issue
is settled.
Trusting God is key in every matter of
our relationship with God. We are saved not because of our own work. We are
saved by Jesus’ work on the cross. You cannot save yourself. You cannot be good
enough in order to be made right with God. Salvation is the Savior’s good gift
to you.
When you understand that the most basic
need in life – to be redeemed and rescued from sin – is a matter of trust, we
need to then know and understand that every other issue of our relationship
with our heavenly Father is also a matter of trust. Whatever your list of
worries looks life, all these things-are all a matter of trust. Trusting God is
the key in every matter of our relationship with Him.
In whom do you trust? You trust in the
Lord! This is important! Your trust is not in someone strange to you.
How do you describe God? This is not an
easy question. But I like the help the Psalmist David gives us in Psalm 139.
He
knows all things. You have searched me Lord, and you
know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from
afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my
ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you Lord know it completely. You hem me in
behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too
wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. (Psalm 139:1-6)
He
can do anything. If I say, “Surely the darkness will
hide me and the light become night around me, ever the darkness will not be
dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to
you. (Psalm
139:11-12)
He
personally knows me. For you created my inmost being; you
knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and
wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was
not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven
together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the
days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
(Psalm 139:13-16)
Trusting seems like a difficult thing
to do because our human nature is so self-reliant. We want to have things our
way. And if not my way…then it’s the highway. Trusting God is such a comforting
idea. Having a relationship is actually central to trust. The more we walk with
the LORD, the more the relationship is developed, the easier trust becomes.
The
Second Condition, you must “Trust in the Lord, with all your heart.” How much are we to trust
in the Lord? With all your heart! Completely! Your trust cannot be a partial trust.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart.”
This is where it all begins. The word “trust” means to be with a care. This is
an indicator of how much we are actually trusting in the Lord. The less car,
worry, anxiety, etc. that one has, the more they are trusting God will all
their heart.
The
Third Condition, you must “Trust in the Lord, with all
your heart, and lean not unto you own
understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and He will make your paths
straight.”
What does trusting God mean? A close
look at these words helps us define trust. We see trust from a negative
statement. We see trust from a positive statement.
The
negative Answer: Do
not lean on your own understanding. We are not to learn on our intellect,
our own abilities, or even our own moral standards. In all things, we must
refuse to lean on our own understanding.
The positive Answer:
Acknowledge Him in everything. We must acknowledge the Lord Jesus in
everything. Recognize God’s presence in everything... There is nothing in your
life that should be outside the reach of God’s perspective.
When
are we to trust God? Always. There is never a time to not trust God. Whenever
we face a crisis, we have two choices. Either we trust God or we trust ourselves.
There really are no other options. When we trust ourselves, we are saying that
the crisis is bigger than God.
Why
should we trust God? Because He give us a promise. He will make your paths straight. Your Savior has a plan for you. He has a
future and He has promised to give direction in your life.
In
Math you have learned – the quickest path between two points is a straight line.
God wants us to get where we need to go in life. What God has for us, the Lord
wants to get us there. Just life any trip you take, the quickest way to get to
your destination is to find the most direct path…from point A to point B. So it
is with your life as well. A crooked path is one filled with twists and turns
that if we are not careful can cause us to end up in a ditch. If that should
happen, God is there to help pull us out. But the best route is to stand in the
middle of the road and on course with God.
God
has a great vantage point over your life. He is the one that is all knowing.
And if we will get God involved in straightening out our path, we are going to
reach our destination in the things of God much quicker. Realize as He
straightens out your path that does not mean it will always go the way you
thought it would. In fact, God usually takes you through life in a rout you
have never been before. That is what walking by faith is all about.
To have God make straight paths for your feet in whatever
you do take time to learn who you are and whose you are in Christ. Get
completely focused on Him and who he has made you to be. Continue to develop an
intimate relationship with Christ. Look to His Word to walk in His ways in all
you do. Then you will be on the right path. The straight path. That God has for
you.
[1]
Blessed Jesus at Thy Word stanza 1 The Lutheran Hymnal © 1940 Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis
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