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 shall direct your paths.”
What does it mean to “trust in the LORD with all your heart?”
Trustnoun
-firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something: relations have to be built on trust | they have been able to win the trust of others.
-acceptance of the truth of a statement without evidence or investigation: I used only primary sources, taking nothing on trust.
-the state of being responsible for someone or something: a man in a position of trust.
-poetic/literary a person or duty for which one has responsibility: rulership is a trust from God.
-poetic/literary a hope or expectation: all the great trusts of womanhood.
If we trust the Lord with all our hearts, then we have complete confidence in Him, and His plan without having to know all (or any) of the details. We believe that He is strong enough, reliable enough, and true enough to handle all of our needs and desires, from the least to the greatest. We do what He asks and commands without worrying about what is going to happen. We know that He won’t give us anything that is too big for us to handle without being there to help.
When we don’t lean “on [our] own understanding,” we are trusting His judgement over our own. The heart is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9), so to rely on it for guidance is foolishness. A common lie that the world tells us, is that we need to “do what feels right,” or what “our hearts tell us.” That is dangerous - and unbiblical - advice. Instead, we need to “lean not on [our] own understanding,” and trust the Lord’s understanding instead.
Now, how does one “acknowledge” the Lord in all their ways?
Acknowledgeverb
-[reporting verb] accept or admit the existence or truth of: [trans.] the plight of the refugees was acknowledged by the authorities | [with clause] the government acknowledged that the tax was unfair | [with direct speech] “That’s true,” she acknowledged.
-[trans.] (a body of opinion) recognize the fact or importance or quality of: the art world has begun to acknowledge his genius | he’s generally acknowledged to be the game’s finest coach.
-accept the validity or legitimacy of: Henry acknowledged Richard as his heir.
-[trans.] show that one has noticed or recognized (someone) by making a gesture or greeting: she refused to acknowledge my presence.
-confirm (receipt of something).
There are many ways we can acknowledge God. The greatest way (I believe) is by recognizing and accepting who He really is, and doing so in a way that others can see you are acknowledging Him. One way to do this is by living in a way that is pleasing to Him, and by denying yourself daily (Matthew 16:24-27). When you live your life with the sole purpose of bringing honor to God, then others notice, and you are “acknowledging” Him as Creator and Lord of all. You are admitting that all He says and does is absolute truth, and living as if you believe so.
Finally, when we do all of this, God promises to direct (or make straight/smooth) our paths. Consider that when we stray from the Lord and His word, it is often described as “straying from the straight and narrow.” So our path suddenly has curves and corners and bumps and ditches, whereas it used to be straight and smooth, going only forward and not backward or to the sides. So when we trust in the Lord with all our hearts, leaning not on our own understanding, and when we acknowledge Him in all of our ways, He will bring us back to the “straight and narrow,” and make the path smooth once again. Clearly, this is the most rewarding way to live our lives.
Comments (1)
I wonder what a difference it would make if we verbally acknowledge God in situations? Like making an affirmation out of it, you know?
i have to remind myself :"God says I am a precious crown in His hand"
i think that because God's words have creative power, ours does too.