YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING

I Was Just Thinking About – “YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING”

With our family and in ministry, a simple and basic passage of God’s Word was always a central part. It is Proverbs 3:5-6, “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 straight your paths.” The NLT words it: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

In my mind, while there are several emphasis points in these two verses, the word “ALL” is inescapable. We are to trust in the Lord with ALL our heart. In ALL our ways, we are to acknowledge Him. I associate the words of a consecration Hymn with these words: “ALL to Jesus, I surrender; ALL to Him I freely give.” While these are very moving and compelling words, they are not always easy to apply. The clutter of our own mind and understanding interfere with our full embrace of “ALL” in reference to the Lord and our commitment to His will and that which is on His heart and mind that is best for us.

In the devotional: Get More Strength For The Journey, Joseph Stowell wrote about Proverbs 3:5-6: “We can choose to live lives that are driven by random impulses and feelings or by a trusted point of reference. And here is a major warning: Without a trusted point of reference, we are all in big trouble. At the core, we are fallen people. With great regret, I have come to realize that my first instincts in a given situation are usually wrong. They may feel right at the moment, but in the long run they prove to be destructive.”

When resorting to “your own understanding,” there is all kinds of inner turmoil that occurs. One of the contributing factors is the tendency to think one knows more than he actually knows. I had a Seminary professor who would occasionally indicate: “One of the best things you can know is what you don’t know!” Over the years, I have found that I sometimes come to conclusions without having sufficient data to reach my conclusion. I don’t want to inordinately dwell on my recent physical situation but when I was told that I had Stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, my understanding was that Stage 4 meant the cancer had entered an organ and that I had 6 months (more or less) to live. While I wasn’t filled with panic, my mind raced in terms of what I needed to get done to make things as smooth and easy for my precious Peggy. Meeting with the Doctor who will prescribe the Chemotherapy to combat this cancer, altered my understanding dramatically. He was positive encouraging, spoke of “cure” rather than loss of life.

I wonder how often one misses God’s best and perfect plan/will for one’s life by drawing conclusions that are not based upon adequate knowledge of God and His plan, will and way for one’s life. The key is to deal with the word “ALL” and to surrender ALL to Him.

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.

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