Proverbs 3: Leaning on The Lord
This chapter of Proverbs sends me in so many different directions. It’s amazing wisdom that has me ever more convinced how much better the world would be if everyone would read and adhere to its moral compass. Read the full chapter in the Berean Standard Bible at Bible Hub… https://biblehub.com/bsb/proverbs/3.htm
The verses represented by the image are my favorite from this chapter, verses 5 and 6. They read…
Proverbs 3:5-6 BSB
[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 will make your paths straight.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.3.5-6.BSB
Leaning is an action word (verb) that visually shows the best way to be quiet in God’s Presence and wisdom. It’s those moments of pure trust that can strengthen us for the tasks we must face in this life. A Sabbath-type rest in the arms of our Abba Father and Creator. This behavior reminds me of a beautiful hymn called “Sheltered in the Arms of God.”
Of course, this Scripture isn’t only about leaning into God, it’s about trusting Him so much that we feel safe to stop leaning on our own thoughts and ways. We are able to stand still and see the salvation of The Lord as He either fights for us or strengthens us for a battle ahead.
So, I’ll admit that I’m not always good at trusting and waiting for God. As a first-born child, I am a natural fixer. PTSD from childhood traumatic events also pushes me to control things for self-preservation and trying to protect myself and/or others from possible troubles ahead. Those types of thoughts and behaviors actually cause me to lean away from Yahveh like a child trying to prove they can do a thing on their own. But the anxiety is not worth it. It’s far better just letting God lead me on straight paths.
And here, I must pause for a little comic relief. One of my top 10 favorite movies of all time is While You Were Sleeping with Sandra Bullock. In it, there’s a very funny scene all about leaning. Maybe it’s not about leaning on The Lord, but the description of leaning here is applicable, and plus, it should make you laugh.
I’ll end this with just those 2 verses in a bit of haiku, and then a video of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.
Verse 5
Trust God completely!
Never lean on your own thoughts…
Or understanding.
Verse 6
In all of your ways,
Know God and lean on His ways.
He will guide your paths.
P.S. Save this month’s blogs for a revisit in future months, so you can read the chapters and devotions at the beginning of the correct days. I tend to write late at night, so the day is passed by the time the post is seen. Because there are 31 chapters in Proverbs, they make great reading for every month of the year. In those months with only 30 days, I generally read both chapters 30 and 31. Either way, you’ll be amazed how often the wisdom from the chapter matching the date you’re reading will end up being exactly what you needed to see or know for that day.
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Walk A Mile in My Shoes, Lord
In Mom’s Shoes by Flickr User Impulses, CC License = Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivative Works
Click image to open a new tab/window to view the original image and to access the user’s full photo stream at Flickr.
Walk a mile in my shoes, Lord, Then walk another mile or two. Order my steps and show me the way To do what You’d have me to do. Lead me and guide me, walkin’ right here beside me, So I can be more like You. Walk a mile in my shoes, Lord, Then keep walkin’ my whole life through.
Those are the lyrics to a chorus I wrote once while having a conversation with God about His understanding of my life’s trials. They began with the words, “Put yourself in my shoes, Lord,” but I plan to move those words to the verse when I fully develop the song.
I think most of us wonder whether anyone else understands some of what we go through. And even those of us who love God with all our hearts may sometimes wonder if He truly understands. I think poems like the popular Footprints in the Sand come for those kinds of wonderings. And, since there is nothing new under the sun, I would guess people have been turning to God with that question for many centuries.
We can know that God does understand by the fact that He did, in fact, walk miles in human shoes. John 1:1-18 begins and ends with statements that declare Yeshua as both with God and God; both Unique Son and God Himself. Yeshua told His disciples that if they had seen Him, they had also seen The Father. And the verse that convinced me that God was not a child abuser but did love me enough to lay down His own life for me–the greatest love of all, is in John 10:30. Here, Yeshua declares, “I and my Father are one.”
Even with these truths, though, we may wonder if God could possibly understand what it’s like to live in our particular shoes. We look at His life and think maybe we could endure if we were Him. Sure, we could be homeless and sleep on a stone pillow, right? But thinking that was the only way He suffered before Calvary is like Bruce Almighty thinking he had too much to do with being responsible for the prayers of only three city blocks. We haven’t worn His shoes to know His times of rejection and sorrow, like when He looked over Jerusalem and wept for her past and her future. In Matthew 23:37 (NLT) we read…
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.”
How often, I wonder, has He been there to walk in our shoes, and we haven’t let Him. I speak this for myself as much as anyone. I need to be reminded sometimes that it’s not my job to sit on the throne, and I’m not in control of everything. Still, even as I let go and let God be God and fix things in His own way, I want to know that He understands. And when I slow down and read His word, I find encouragements like the following…
- This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15 NLT)
- Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (1 Peter 5:7 NLT)
- “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” (Luke 12:6-7 NLT)
With understanding that God does care about me personally, and trust that He will lead in the right direction, I can sing from my heart, “Walk a mile in my shoes, Lord, then keep walkin’ my whole life through.” I hope you can too.
P.S. Just for a little encouragement, here’s a video of the song Give Them All to Jesus…
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