Part one addressed ”Why can you and should you trust God?” Part two addressed our “relationship between our own understanding and trusting the LORD”.
In part three we are addressing the question in Proverbs 3:6: How do you determine where and how to step when you’re stuck in life?
When the question says “stuck” this could be “stuck” as in immobilized due to fear or anxiety, being overwhelmed with options, or feeling like you have no options. You may feel alone or feel like all you want is to be left alone. You may be fighting to keep control or totally out of control.
Solomon says to his son “In all your ways acknowledge God and He will make your path straight.” Some translations the second half reads “and He will direct your path.”
One key to receiving God’s direction personally and getting unstuck, or to helping someone else find God’s direction and getting unstuck, is to follow Solomon’s wise instruction to His son: “In all your ways acknowledge Him”.
What does “In all your ways” mean?
This is not just talking about “what” you do in life, but also “how” you do what you do and “why” you do what you do. Solomon is admonishing and instructing his son to align, measure, weigh, filter, surrender every thought, attitude, desire, word, action with, in, through, and according to his knowledge and relationship with “Him” – the LORD who was mentioned in verse five (and all through Scripture).
Here’s what it does not mean. Solomon was not instructing his son to simply nod at God as the son goes about his own business, as if to give a nonchalant indication of noticing one’s presence or existence, like one competing athlete does to another as they pass by each other in public. Nor does it mean flippantly or arrogantly nodding as if to say “I see you and I’m glad you came, but I’ve got this.”
Acknowledging God in all my ways means I am fully surrendering everything about me to the nature, attributes, and works of God as Creator, King, Savior, Friend, Master, and Father… All of who He is!
We often expect and even demand a “memo” or clear sign, some kind of a simple mathematical equation from God to provide us with clear directions on the way out of being stuck. It’s easy to get impatient with God and try to impose our system of directional preference on Him and then justify why we don’t trust Him or take the time to rightly acknowledge Him. God is not our google device or google maps. He is our God!
Where does the key lie to receiving God’s direction? It’s found in knowing the LORD (of the Bible according to the Bible) and aligning all of who we are and how we live with all of who He is. It’s about relationship.
Here are a few questions for you if you want to receive God’s direction or get unstuck:
- Are you focused on your answer or His guidance? (His leading, not just quick answers to your questions and solutions to your problems)
- What specifically do you want direction from God about?
- How have you gone about “acknowledging” (based on what you just learned about this), or not acknowledging the LORD so far?
- Do you need to seek God’s forgiveness and repent of wanting something, an answer, more than wanting to know Him and build your relationship and trust in Him?
- Have you spent time talking to God about this instead of just thinking about it?
- Is there something you keep “bumping up against” or “crashing into” that you struggle to trust God with? If yes, this is an area to pursue “acknowledging” the LORD about according to this study.
Solomon was helping his son, and you and me, realize that direction is not found within oneself or “out there” somewhere. Guidance is found in trusting and acknowledging the LORD.
Here are a few questions for you if you are the one seeking to help or provide biblical guidance for another person:
- Do you seek to provide answers for people God allows you to walk alongside, or do you help them at the soul level trust and acknowledge God to receive God’s direction?
- Do you allow people space to wrestle with their lack of trust and lack of acknowledging God? Do you allow them to experience the tension that can reveal where and how and why they are not acknowledging God?
- How are you doing at modeling trusting, leaning not on your own understanding, and acknowledging the LORD in HOW you walk alongside others?
- If a person or couple mimicked you, would their heart posture be one of humility and growth according to Proverbs 3:5-6?
- Where and how is God using those you walk alongside to increase your application of Proverbs 3:5-6?
We will look at a case study for application for part 4.
