This
post appeared also as a chapter that Cory Collins wrote in The Ways of
Wisdom, in the 2012 Lads to Leaders / Leaderettes Pearls Study series.
“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.” (Proverbs 3:5, 6)
On July 16, 1999, John
F. Kennedy, Jr., was piloting his Piper Saratoga light aircraft along the U.S.
coast toward Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Flying a new plane at
night, with nothing but water below, he had no visual landmarks with which he
could reorient his brain. He became confused. His inner ear tricked him into
thinking that he was level when in fact he was beginning a steep dive. He sped
downward at a speed of 4,700 feet per minute, or 1,100 feet in just 14 seconds.
By the time Kennedy knew he was in trouble, it was too late for him to reverse
his course. Adding to the tragedy was the fact that his wife and sister-in-law
were flying with him. All three perished.
How sad it is to
realize that, from the time he began his flight, there was an instrument called
an altimeter on board that could have guided him and preserved these lives. An
altimeter is an instrument that determines a plane’s elevation, its height
above sea level. It senses pressure changes that accompany changes in altitude.
Kennedy had never been
trained to read his aircraft’s altimeter. If he had been, he probably would not
have crashed. Instead he leaned on his own understanding, relying on his own
instincts. When his inner ear whispered, “You’re level,” the altimeter read,
“You’re going down.” It was the instrument that was correct. Because he acted
according to what he thought and perceived, rather than trusting the objective
truth provided by a reliable source, he lost his life and the lives of those
who depended on him. That fatal night illustrates the danger we face if we fail
to trust God, the most reliable source of all, to direct our paths in every
area of life.
The Meaning of Trust
The word “trust” means
to attach oneself to, confide in, feel safe, be confident, be secure or rely
on. Imagine a person seeing a sturdy chair, agreeing that it is strong and
steady, but refusing to sit in it. Does that person really trust that chair? It
is only when one rests his or her full weight upon the chair that genuine trust
has been shown. To trust in is to lean on.
“Trust in the LORD
with all your heart” is equivalent to “in all your ways acknowledge Him.” One
who trusts God recognizes Him, credits Him and depends upon Him in every aspect
of life. “All your ways” would certainly include your worship, but also your
studies, your family life, your friendships, your language, your entertainment
choices and so forth. You are to glorify God in thought, word and deed, whether
on the Internet, on a ball field, on a school assignment, on a church pew or on
a job. Only then does He promise to direct or make straight your paths.
Adam Clarke wrote,
“Begin, continue and end every work, purpose and device, with God. Earnestly
pray for His direction at the commencement; look for His continual support in
the progress; and so begin and continue that all may terminate in His glory:
and then it will certainly be to thy good; for we never honor God without
serving ourselves. Self-sufficiency and self-dependence have been the ruin of
mankind ever since the fall of Adam. The grand sin of the human race is their
continual endeavor to live independently of God. True religion consists in
considering God as the fountain of all good, and expecting all good from Him.”
The Opposite of Trust
One who does not lean
on the Lord must lean on someone or something else. One who leans on his own
understanding makes himself the final authority, the last word. This was the
issue at stake in the first temptation. The serpent asked Eve in Genesis
3:1, “Has God indeed said …?” He then offered her the opportunity to gain
wisdom equal to God and to lean on her own understanding. She took the bait.
Every sin, without
exception, results from a person’s choice not to trust the instruments (God’s
objective standards) but to depend on his own preferences and wishes instead.
The Bible says in James 1:14-15, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away
by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth
to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
The Lord warns us
often of the dangers of following our own desires. We read in Jeremiah
10:23, “O Lord, I know the way of
man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”
Proverbs 14:12 notes, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is
the way of death.” Because the world in its wisdom could not find true
wisdom, God provided His revelation, the message of the cross (1 Corinthians
1:18).
In what areas must we
deliberately choose to trust and acknowledge the Lord, rather than lean on our
own understanding? Several crucial ones quickly come to mind, in which we must
adhere to God’s biblical navigation system, even when—and especially when—it
contradicts our own instincts or inclinations. Let us consider some of these
vital matters.
Truth
Pilate asked Jesus in
John 18:38, “What is truth?” People are likewise confused today. Some think
that truth is relative, depending on a person’s preferences or circumstances.
They will say, “This is true for me because it makes sense, because it works,
because I like it, or because it feels good.” People even speak of “my
truth” as distinct from “your truth.” Many claim that truth is fluid,
determined by the culture, or the majority, or elected officials. Having bought
the lie of Darwinian evolution, they insist that truth has also evolved and is
still evolving. Surveys indicate that as many as 75 percent of Americans,
including many who claim to follow Christ, do not believe in absolute truth.
They are leaning on their own understanding, not God’s instruments. The child
of God agrees with Jesus, who said, “Your Word is truth” (John 17:17). The
Christian knows that truth is fixed, immovable and unchanging, because it
reflects the perfect character of God.
Morality
In the beginning God
made one man and one woman, and in marriage they became one flesh. Only at that
point did they begin to have sexual relations, as God designed (Genesis
2:21-25). Jesus reinforced that original plan and added in Matthew 19:6 (NASB),
“Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.” No matter how
many U.S. states or authorities attempt to redefine marriage in any other
terms, they cannot, at least not in any ultimate sense.
No matter how many
movies glamorize sexual immorality, it is still evil in the sight of God, as
are the other deeds of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). No matter how many voices
declare the homosexual lifestyle to be just an equal alternative, God has
declared it sinful (Romans 1:26-27). Human life is sacred and precious in God’s
sight, even when that human life is still in the mother’s womb (Psalm
139:13-16). Abortion is the shedding of innocent blood, something that God
hates (Proverbs 6:16-19). No matter how many unborn babies are put to death,
God will never declare abortion to be right. We must not allow opinions
and feelings to distort the one objective instrument God has given: the
Scriptures. Lying, cheating, impure desires, theft, pornography and adultery
are just as wrong as they ever were.
People who lean on
their own understanding may say, “As long as we love each other, and plan to
marry, and don’t hurt anyone else, sexual activity is good. A baby isn’t in my
plan at this time.” They ask, “As long as immodest clothing or behavior get me
more attention from the opposite sex, what could be wrong with it?” “If it’s in
the movies, if celebrities are doing it, and if it makes me happy, why
shouldn’t I do it?” “How could it be wrong, when it feels so right?” One’s
instincts may say, “You’re flying level,” but if God’s altimeter says, “You’re
going down fast and hard,” it’s the instrument that is right.
Love
Human instinct tells
young people that love is a feeling, a thrill or a sensation. Love is said to
be something you “fall into,” “fall out of,” or experience “at first sight.”
Love is thought to be based on chemistry, not a mutual commitment to serve the
Lord. Some say, “Love is for me, to see what I can get from you, not the other
way around. When the feeling is gone, I can leave you and look for someone else
whom I find more interesting.” That’s the deceptive, dangerous human perception
of love.
God’s objective
instrument defines love as a decision to think and act on behalf of another
person, to serve and to give, rather than to demand and take. When we trust in
the Lord and lean not on our own understanding, we acknowledge Him by
demonstrating these qualities noted in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a: “Love suffers
long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is
not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked,
thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears
all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love
never fails.”
We recognize that
other people truly love us, or do not love us, in the same way. A person who is
possessive, quick-tempered, envious, selfish, arrogant, touchy or rude does not
truly love another person. That is true, even if that first person is cute,
smart, athletic, popular, or rich. Even if the chemistry is right, the
relationship may be wrong. Even if the romance soars, the relationship may
sink. The answer to one basic question must precede all the choices that we
make. It is this: Will we lean on our own instincts, or will we take directions
from God’s objective instrument that cannot fail?
Success
How do we measure a
life well lived? Our culture urges us to seek fortune and fame, beauty and
brains. Success is a six-figure income or a six-garage mansion. Our instincts
may tell us to do as did the rich farmer, whom Jesus described in Luke
12:13-21. When his land yielded plentifully, he was concerned that his small
barns were insufficient to store his crops. He decided to pull down those barns
and build greater, and there he could store all his crops and his goods. Verses
19-20 let us see his thinking, “I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many
goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’
But then God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you;
then whose will those things be which you have provided?’” The farmer had laid
up treasure for himself, but he was not rich toward God. Therefore he was not,
in the final analysis, a successful man.
God’s instrument
defines true success in quite different terms. His Word says that success is
found in service and in sacrifice, in giving and in yielding. Jesus
defined success in this way in Mark 8:34-38, “Whoever desires to come after Me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires
to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the
gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole
world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful
generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the
glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Ironically, the One
who lived the most successful life in history, Jesus Christ, had no place to
lay His head (Luke 9:58). He came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give
His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). As prophesied in Isaiah 53:2-3, He had
“no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should
desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we
did not esteem Him.”
One author has said
that we spend our lives climbing the ladder of success, only to realize, when
we reach the top, that we placed it against the wrong wall. If you would be
successful in the only sense that matters— the sight of God—aim that ladder
toward all that pleases Him. When you reach your destination, you will have no
regrets.
Judgment
“It is appointed for men to die once, but after this comes the judgment”
(Hebrews 9:27). God “has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in
righteousness” (Acts 17:31). Sinful man, while quite willing to judge those
around him, refuses to believe that he himself will be judged. Leaning on his own
understanding, he dismisses the wrath of God and the need for repentance and
obedience. He may accept the fact that “God is love” (1 John 4:8) but not the
fact that “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).
Man’s instincts may
say that there is no hell, or that it’s here on earth. However, Jesus
spoke in Matthew 25:41 of “the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels.” He called it “outer darkness,” with “weeping and gnashing of teeth”
(Matt 25:30). He described it as “everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46).
Man may think, “If
there is a heaven, then I and all the people I know are going to be there after
we die.” However, God’s altimeter says in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow
gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and
there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the
way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” The truth is that,
though everyone is invited to follow the Lord and enjoy His blessings, most
people will not. They prefer to lean on their own understanding instead.
Salvation
Because of God’s
amazing grace, the Bible says, “For while we were still helpless, at the right
time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6, NASB). Because of the
sacrifice of Jesus, sinners can be forgiven. Enemies of God can be reconciled
to Him. Every wrong thought, word or deed can be pardoned. Those headed for
hell can be spared, redeemed and delivered. We who have leaned on our own
understanding in the past can decide to trust in the Lord with all our hearts
and acknowledge Him in all our ways. As a result, He will direct our paths. We
cannot save ourselves, but the blood of Christ can save us when we turn to Him
as He has directed.
Our salvation from sin
cannot be based on our feelings, which are unstable and unreliable. We may be
excited and confident about many things, but the only solid ground of Christian
assurance is the Word of God. We may feel saved and yet be lost. Our instincts,
our preferences, our perspectives and our conscience may mislead us. Therefore,
God has given us an altimeter, an objective analysis of our position and clear
directions to follow.
In order to receive
God’s free gift of eternal life, you must believe that Jesus is both Lord and
Christ (Acts 2:36). You must be pricked, convicted of the sin in your life
(Acts 2:37). You must confess His name (1 Timothy 6:12) and repent and be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts
2:38). You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and He will add you to His
church, in which you will work and serve. Then, as you continue to live by
faith and walk in the light, He will direct your paths. You will not crash but
land, right where you want to be, at home on the other side with Him.
“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.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Image source:
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