A Clearly Directed Way

(by Paul Carnehl)

The following is a guest post by my friend Paul Carnehl. Written in a devotional format, I encourage you to take some time and slowly walk through this concept of knowing and trusting in the Lord with all your heart.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6

1. Trust Him

Proverbs 3:5 – “Trust…”

What is trust?

Trust is being confident & secure in something or someone. Trust requires vulnerability.

Let me illustrate.

Take, for instance, the chair you are likely sitting on right now. Did you inspect the quality and/or construction of the chair before you plopped down to sit on it? I suspect that you’re like me and didn’t even consider such a thing. We generally expect chairs to hold us when we sit down on them, right? Isn’t that what their made to do? That’s trust. There’s a possibility that the chair would collapse when you set yourself down on it, but you have confidence that it will support you.

So what, or rather Who, is this passage telling us to trust?

“Trust in the LORD…”

Who is this LORD? (Note that Lord is spelt in all caps)

He is Jehovah, the self-existent, eternal One.

This is the God who has need of nothing outside of Himself, who has no beginning nor end. He owns all things and never ceases to exist. He has everything good to give and His giving can be without end.

You see, we find our hope, confidence, & security IN the LORD.

What else does this passage teach us?

2. Don’t trust yourself

“… lean not unto thine own understanding.”

Our understanding is pitifully small. But the LORD is omniscient (all knowing), and sovereign.

I want you to take out a piece of blank paper. That sheet represents all knowledge, everything that could be known. Now how much of all knowledge to you know? Make a single dot with a pen or pencil on the paper to illustrate your knowledge base. Isn’t that little bit of ink or lead on the page so miniscule in relation to the whole?

His thoughts are infinitely higher than our thoughts,
and His ways immeasurably higher than our ways.
Isaiah 55:9

Why would we ever choose our own way of thinking about life when we have access to God’s mind?

3. Acknowledge Him

“… acknowledge him …”

Recognize the LORD’s involvement in your circumstances. Confess who He is and what He’s done, admitting your need for Him in every situation and action.

Jesus tells us in John 15:5 that “… without Me you can do nothing.”

Do you NEED the LORD? or can you get along fine without Him? Is God merely an afterthought, or is He the first one you turn to?

These 3 commands: (1) Trust Him; (2) Don’t trust yourself; and (3) Acknowledge Him – are ultimately a command to make Jesus the core of your existence.

The Promise

God, the LORD, has made a promise. If you live by these commandments, then the LORD shall direct your paths, taking you in the best and blessed Way as a Good Shepherd.

Do you find yourself needing wisdom or guidance for the countless decisions you have to make each day? Heed this passage, making Jesus the center focus of your whole life, and the LORD will direct you.

This is the key to a clearly directed way.

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Paul Carnehl is a young man in pursuit of glorifying God with his life through an ever deepening relationship and interaction with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. His passion is to support and spur on the Body of Christ unto the great heights of the fulness of God.

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