Proverbs 3:5-6

I wrote this post about a year ago and never really finished it. However, I woke up this morning with these verses going through my head so I pulled up this old post and tried to polish it a little. It's still not great, but I felt it held some great lessons so I'm sharing with all of you today. Hopefully you'll be as challenged and blessed as I have been by these verses, even if they have been used a million times! :)

Proverbs 3:5-6

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. Probably two of the most famous bible verses of our generation. It’s everywhere. It’s engraved on mugs, written on plaques, and most likely listed as one of the top 10 favorite verses by Christians (by my guess anyway). It’s everywhere we look and yet how many of us actually stop to think about what it’s really saying? 

            Before I write any more I have a confession to make. I don’t particularly like these verses. I’m not even sure why I don’t. I mean, I appreciate the fact that they’re the words of God and that they’re full of wisdom, but if you asked me what my favorite verses were they wouldn’t even come close to my top 50. Maybe it’s because they’re so popular or perhaps it’s because I’ve heard them a thousand times. I don’t really know. All I do know is when someone mentions them or I happen to come across them I quickly rush by them all the while thinking to myself, “yeah, yeah I know those verses. I don’t need to hear/read them again.” To me they are tired and old so I search for something new never giving them more than a passing thought.

That is until tonight. I was surfing through the internet looking for a verse I couldn’t quite remember when Proverbs 3:5-6 verses popped up. Normally I would have skimmed right over them over and kept looking but something stopped me. Whoever had originally posted them had italicized the very end of verse 6 and for some reason those last seven words stuck with me even after I had moved on.

God showed me something about these verses I had never really seen or thought about before. I don’t know why, it is pretty obvious (and maybe everyone but me has seen it along!). In the first three lines the writer of Proverbs gives us three instructions, to trust in the Lord, to lean not on our own understanding, and to submit to God. Finally, in the very last one he tells us that God will make our paths straight. This is where I had to stop and realize it says God will make my paths straight; not that I complete the first three actions and then I will make my paths straight. I have nothing to do with turning my life around and following the right path beyond giving him everything. I often think that as long as I follow what God is telling me and try my best to obey and grow closer to him then I can steer myself in the right direction, but in all truth I’m probably steering myself off the road more often than following it. 

Furthermore, it says to trust in the Lord with ALL your heart…. and in ALL your ways submit to him. Not with part, not with some, not even with the majority, but with ALL of it! We can’t half-heartedly commit to him. He wants it all. Every last corner, every little speck, every hidden secret. If we truly follow what this verse is instructing then we are handing over control. We are no longer at the wheel of our life. The moment we hand over the wheel we are no longer in control of where we’re headed and that can be a very scary, stomach dropping, heart pumping, terrifying thought. I can say in the end it’s all going to be okay, but the truth is most of us probably won’t get that far. I don’t say that to be discouraging or to stop anyone from trying (I hope you DO keep trying!), but only to point out our human condition. Most of us love being in control (I know I do) and it’s hard to let go even when we know we should. Sure we give up control for a while, but when life doesn’t seem to be going the way we think it should we tend to wrestle control from God so we can swing our lives in the direction we deem best. 

I wish it was easier to give up control. To sit in the passenger seat and enjoy the adventure that God has before me, but just like Dug (see post titled “Distractions”) I am easily distracted. In fact sometimes I wonder if it’s possible to have spiritual ADHD because there are times when I feel like I’m all over the place, unable to fully listen to what God is saying and teaching. 

Obviously, learning to let go and let God lead is a hard lesson to learn, but I’m trying each day to give up me and let God be the guide. So often, I feel as though I know which direction my life should be going in and yet God seems headed in a totally different direction. It’s not easy giving up what I want, especially when it’s something I really want, but someday I hope I learn his way is best so I can sit back and enjoy the ride.