Lost? Find Your Way with God
Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
The entire book of Proverbs is extolling understanding, wisdom, and knowledge. But in verse 5, we read that we’re not to lean to our own understanding. So, there are two types of understanding: There’s our own understanding, or what 1 Corinthians 2:6 calls “the wisdom of this world.” Then there’s an under- standing or wisdom that comes from God.
We gain godly wisdom through His Word. I’ve already discussed some of those verses, like Proverbs 2:6, which says, “Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” God’s Word is where His wisdom and knowledge are revealed to us. We shouldn’t lean to our own understanding but rather do things God’s way. I can’t tell you how many thousands of people have told me their problems, and the reason they had those problems was because they did things their way. Like Frank Sinatra. They did it their way and leaned to their own understanding.
Proverbs 14:12 tells us, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Our way is not going to work. But there are many reading this article right now who are having some serious problems. Their marriages are falling apart, their finances are falling apart, their health is falling apart. They have dread about the future instead of hope, and there just isn’t anything good in their lives. And they’re wondering why this is all happening. It’s because they have leaned to their own understanding and followed their own course. They chose what they wanted to do. Maybe they even asked God to bless it. But there’s a difference between doing what God tells you to do, which is automatically blessed, and doing something contrary to what God wanted you to do and then begging and pleading with Him to bless it. There’s a better way, and that way is Proverbs 3:5.
Living Commentary
Proverbs 3:5
This very chapter promotes the benefits of understanding. This certainly isn’t contradicting what has already been said. This is speaking about our own understanding, or just human understanding. The original sin committed by Adam and Eve was exalting their own reasoning above God’s (Genesis 3:1–6). There is a supernatural wisdom and understanding that comes from God (Luke 24:45). We are supposed to rely on this God-given wisdom and understanding, not our own. God imparts this through His Word (Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 13:15).
Proverbs 3:6 says, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
We shouldn’t be Sunday-only Christians. We shouldn’t just have a thirty-minute devotional time with the Lord and then live the rest of the day however we want, leaning on our own understanding. This verse tells us that we need to acknowledge God in all of our ways.
An example of this is 2 Corinthians 6:14: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” This has application far beyond marriage, but it certainly includes marriage. A Christian shouldn’t marry someone who isn’t a believer. They shouldn’t marry someone just because of similar interests or because of physical attraction. Beauty is temporary. It’s going to change. This is why so many marriages fall apart. They’re based solely on physical attributes or common interests.
A marriage should first of all be based on your love and commitment to God. If your potential mate doesn’t share that with you, you should not entertain marrying that person. But so many people only acknowledge God on certain things, and with other things, like marriage, they just decide to do it their own way. This is a main reason why people have so many problems. It’s the reason the divorce rate is nearly as high in the church as it is in the secular world. Christians aren’t following God’s system.
We’re supposed to acknowledge God in all our ways, and He will direct our paths. I realized that marriage was going to be one of the most important decisions I ever made. I knew that if I married the wrong person, it could lead to divorce, adultery, and all kinds of bad things; I could literally destroy whatever God had planned for my life. So, I entered into marriage with fear and trembling, saying, “God, I need to have Your mind on this.” And God supernaturally put Jamie and me together. We were engaged to be married before we ever held hands. There was a physical attraction, but that was not the dominant thing. God supernaturally put us together.
Because we acknowledged Him, He has directed our paths. We have now been married for more than forty years, and it’s better than it’s ever been because God put it together. But some believers are not acknowledging God in this realm. They feel like that decision is up to them, and they’ll just pick and choose whomever they want. They also pick and choose their own vocations. They don’t seek God in all their ways.
Living Commentary
Proverbs 3:6
The dictionary defines acknowledge as “To admit the validity, authority, or truth of” (HMAHED). So, acknowledging God is recognizing the fact of God’s existence and yielding to His authority in every area of our lives. When we acknowledge Him like that, He will direct our paths. God never intended for us to operate on our own (Jeremiah 10:23).
