November 19
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
For all of us, there are those times when we just need some direction. We come to that proverbial “fork in the road,” and we just need to know which way to go – which way is best. Admittedly, this is not easy. We don’t really like our roads with forks. We want a straight path. No turns. No choices. And certainly NO obstacles in our way. Nothing in our path that causes us frustration, or doubt, or anxiety. We just want to “keep on truckin’” – one foot after another – without hesitations or delays in our journey.
But, as you may have discovered, that just isn’t real life.
Life is always presenting us with challenges. And changes. And choices. And most of the time, we struggle to have a clue about what to do.
But for the Christ-follower we are never clueless. We are not in this by ourselves. We have a life-Partner who walks with us every step of the way.
Jesus reminded us of this… “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18) Jesus was speaking, of course, of the Holy Spirit. “You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (14:17b) The promise of Jesus is that every true believer will receive God’s Holy Spirit… to make the presence of Jesus so palpable, it will BE just as if He is right there with us.
One of the Holy Spirit’s main roles is to be our Guide. To lead us in God’s ways for us – and to make us aware of God’s divine Presence and His divine favor. Because most of the time, we really don’t need as much direction as we think we do – we just need to know that the One Who knows all things is right there with us. We are not alone. We are not forsaken. GOD is with us – and it is His pleasure to take us wherever we need to go.
This is at the heart of the wisdom of our verses from Proverbs. They are so well-known that sometimes we forget they are actually divine truth.
Our task, when faced with any unclear choice is to remind ourselves of God’s goodness, God’s Presence, and God’s commitment to our welfare.
We are tempted to try and figure it out on our own. We are tempted to “try and give God a little help” by trying to forge our own path. (But that’s often how we end up in ditches!)
Our solution is so simple. Trust in the Lord (place our complete faith in His commitment to our good)… with all your heart (with everything we are – leaning only on His goodness). In all your ways acknowledge Him (SEE Him as our only hope, our only solution) and HE will make your paths straight (He will do far more than tell us what to do or where to go… He will take us by the hand and walk us through).
So much of the time we are trying to blaze trails into the unknown – when God is just asking us to fully trust in His ability to see ALL things.
This is why we have received the Holy Spirit. He is God WITHIN us to guide us through every part of our life’s journey. Our task is just to trust Him… with our whole heart.
Prayer Focus: God, in this walk of life, make me so aware of Your Presence with me and within me… Holy Spirit, allow my heart to trust You in every way I need to go.
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