Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Trust”
Our Bible verse for today: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “You can trust Him to guide you.”
Life can be very confusing. Worse than that, receiving guidance from God about important decisions can also sometimes seem confusing. Right at the time we need to hear from Him the most is often the time when we have the greatest difficulty hearing Him.
So what do you do? What do you do when you need guidance from God and it doesn’t seem to be coming? Worse still, what if you have reached the point where a decision simply has to be made and action must be taken, but you still do not have a clear word from God about it?
Proverbs 3:5-6 gives us the answer. Decades ago I made this one of my personal life verses and I have relied on it frequently ever since.
There’s an old saying that goes, “God gave you a mind, and He doesn’t mind if you use it once in a while!” In other words, God wants us to think things through, pray hard, search the Scriptures, and then make the best decision we can and just move on.
It’s similar to how a parent teaches a child to make their own decisions. As the child matures he or she should become increasing more able to make good decisions of their own, without the parent having to give them explicit guidance every step of the way. That’s what God does with us. He wants us to become familiar with His written guidance in the Bible and spiritually mature enough so that we evaluate things and make decisions based upon Biblical principles. And then He wants us to use those skills to make good decisions of our own. He does not want us to remain spiritual babies who have to have every decision made for us and every step forward spelled out for us in detail.
Proverbs 3:5-6 provides us with a simple three-step process we can use to confidently guide our decision-making:
- Trust God. Realize that God wants to be understood by us so that we can then be obedient to Him. He has more at stake in this than you do. This is about one of His children conducting themselves in a way that honors Him. So He has a vested interest in making sure that we do conduct ourselves well.
- Make sure that your heart is right and that your only desire is to know God’s will and then be obedient to it. Submit your will for His.
- Pray and search the Scriptures for guidance.
- When the time comes that a decision must be made and action must be taken, make the best decision you can and just get moving, trusting that God will guide and direct you as you walk it forward.
Remember, He wants your obedience even more than you do. He wants you to honor and glorify Him with your conduct and your life even more than you want it. So trust Him – and then get moving.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 