IT'S GOOD TO HAVE FAVORITES
PROVERBS 3:5-6 NKJV
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
It's good to have favorites, provided it is the right kind of favorites. Having favorite children, not a good idea. But having favorite verses and chapters and books of the Bible works. Favorite verses and passages reveal that the Lord has helped us through life or used our favorites as a guiding message.
Our verses for today are favorite verses from one of my favorite chapters of the Proverbs. These are the verses that Joy has shared with our staff during staff prayer over the years. She has encouraged the staff to meditate on these verses, and different ones have shared how these verses spoke to them in difficult times.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding." This is such wisdom for the believer to help us navigate so much of our life here on earth. According to 2 Corinthians 5:7, we walk by faith and not by sight, and this verse helps to shine the light on how to do this. We trust the Lord, His word, and His Holy Spirit as we walk through life. We don't trust everything we see and feel. We don't trust our own reasoning and logic. Of course, we use our heads, but logic and reasoning are not the last word. We trust with our hearts even when the circumstances around us are conflicting.
I like coupling verse six with verse five. "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." The more we trust the Lord, the more we acknowledge Him. And the more we acknowledge, the more He is able to lead us. Many have waited for the Lord to make them do something. If you are waiting on the Lord to make you, please know He is waiting on you. We acknowledge He directs. If we never look to Him and continue to go our own way and reason things out in our own minds, He will not direct our paths.
APPLICATION
I believe in looking at options and weighing the facts. But before making a decision when I am wise, I will check with the Lord. Over the years, some of the biggest mistakes I made as a pastor were due to either not checking with the Lord or ignoring the path that He directed me to take.
Some people have believed that the Lord no longer provides guidance and help. Now that we have His word, we have all we need. I am more than grateful for God's Word, but there are many things in life the Bible does not address. Who to marry, who to hire, which job to take, and the list goes on. Thank God for verse six: in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct.
These two verses are favorites of mine because they offer so much Godly wisdom and help for all of life.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, that I can trust in You with all my heart. And I will acknowledge You in all my ways. Thank you for directing my paths.