Dave’s Monday Blast – June 29, 2020
Proverbs 3: 5-6 clearly teaches us that we are to “trust in the Lord with ALL our hearts…and lean not on your own understanding…in ALL our ways we are to acknowledge Him…and He will make our paths straight” (show us the way to go and the best path to get there). Trusting in the Lord simply means we “lean into Him,” we have full confidence in Him for our past, present and future.
Last week we began sharing daily steps that we MUST take to make sure we are leaning on Him and not on ourselves or others.
The first 3 of 7 from last week:
1. Don’t Depend on YOU. (3:5)
2. Cry out to God. (3:6)
3. Run from Evil. (3:7)
New this Week:
4. Put God First in Your Life! It’s easiest to put ourselves first. When something good happens, we want to congratulate ourselves with a reward. When something bad happens, we want to console ourselves or find someone to blame. When it comes to money, the struggle is even harder. But Solomon, who had quite a bit of wealth himself, knew that his money didn’t belong to him (3:9 – 10). If we can trust God with the first of our wealth, we’re showing how much we depend on Him. This is being God-centric not me-centric.
But to get there, make sure you…
5. Check Yourself by God’s Word! Let’s be honest. We aren’t so good at evaluating ourselves. We will go to great lengths to excuse our behavior, our actions, and our sins (Jeremiah 17:9). If we’re ever going to truly trust in God and flee evil, we have to know exactly where we stand. We have to find an objective measure that tells us the truth. And that truth only comes from God and His Word (3:11). Sometimes it takes something bad happening or seeing ourselves in a bad light before we finally admit that we need to change. And of course…the more we are in the Word, the more likely this is to happen (Psalm 119:11).
When we have Scripture firmly in our hearts, God will often use that to deal with us…
6. We Must Listen to the Holy Spirit! When Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to the church, He told His disciples that this Counselor would be their spiritual compass or GPS (3:13). As we go through our day, this same Holy Spirit guides us into all truth and protects us with His heavenly wisdom. “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you…guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us” (2 Timothy 1:14).
After all, the gift of the Holy Spirit to us believers reminds us that we can truly…
7. Rest in God’s Love! When we face a difficult world each day, we can sometimes wonder if God even cares. Why do bad things happen? Where is God when I need Him? Solomon reminds us that God never takes a break or leaves us to fend for ourselves (Proverbs 3:12). Even in the midst of turmoil, God sticks with us and uses those challenges to shape us. When we understand that, our perspective completely flips. No longer do we see our setbacks as failures; we see them as moments when God, as our loving Father, works on us.
And that’s exactly why we can trust in the Lord with all our hearts. He cares for us each and every day. He gives us what we need to thrive. He pours blessing after blessing upon us. Of course, following each of these daily steps isn’t easy…there’s the rub. That’s why Jesus said we have to deny ourselves and follow Him (Matthew 16:24).
Trusting God takes a whole-hearted commitment from dawn till dusk. But we’re never alone in it (Matthew 28:20b).
