Late one afternoon a hiker, climbing along a steep mountain ridge slipped and fell down the side of the mountain. Fortunately, he was able to grab onto a small tree growing out from the rock, and hung on for dear life. Suddenly the hiker heard a voice from above calling to him by name, saying, "Just let go, and you will land safely on a ledge below. Just trust me." For a moment the man was silent. Then he called back, "Is there anyone else up there?"
Proverbs 3:5,6 - Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
I. Here is a wonderful promise: "He, the Lord, will make your paths straight". (He shall direct thy paths.) What does that mean? Three ideas come to mind.
A. He will make your paths level, remove the stumbling blocks, keep you from tripping and falling. This is the same promise given to the captives returning from Babylon: "Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain." (Isaiah 40:4) Remember, we are as captives returning back to our home city, the Heavenly Jerusalem. B. He will bring about a successful end, or lead you safely to your destination. Those who trust in the Lord, until the end, will be saved. This is a guarantee, paid for by the death of Jesus and His resurrection.
C. He will keep you from wandering off the path of righteousness, so that you will not be drawn into sin. It reminds us of the assertion in the 23rd Psalm, "He leads me in the paths of righteousness." In a day when temptations are so abundant, we need to hear this promise, and be motivated to follow His leading.
II. This is the promise, "He will make your paths straight." But as with every promise of God, there is a condition to fulfill. In this case, the condition is, Trust, or Faith. The basic message is this: Trust God, Distrust Yourself.
Notice that the rest of the statement (in Proverbs 3:5,6) helps us to understand what "trust in the Lord" means. First, it meansÐ2C "don't lean on your own understanding", and second, "in all your ways acknowledge Him".
A. Take the second. To acknowledge God simply means that we know that God is there in every situation. Any day of week. Every location imaginable. Whatever you may be doing, whom ever you may be with - God is there. Of course someone might say, "But sometimes I don't feel His presence." One of the significant issues today is that we have a great number of people trying to find "it" - the feeling, as though the feeling authenticates the presence. In fact, twice this week someone told me this was their problem, they just didn't feel the Lord being with them. Within the Pentecostal tradition we are especially vulnerable, because we tend to promote the idea that God can, and should be experienced. The danger of this is that we end up reducing our Christian life to an emotional experience. If there's no emotion, we think that God isn't there for us. We want something that is tangible, something which can be experienced with one of our senses, or at least one of our emotions. But to acknowledge God in all our ways is to declare, by faith, that He is there, in every situation. Perhaps we all should learn the Pioneer Club slogan, "Christ in every Phase of Life."
B. But also notice that trusting in the Lord means that we don't lean on our own understanding. Does that mean that while making decisions, we should neglect our own mental powers, or the wisdom we have gained throughout our lives? Of course not. These are gifts of God to be developed and used. The point is that we ultimately must rely on a wisdom that is beyond and above ours. In other words, "don't rest confidently upon" your own understanding, trust in the overriding providence of God.
By the way, the word "lean on" is connected to two ancient images.
One is to lean on one's sword, or shepherd's staff. For the soldier, the sword, and for the shepherd, the staff is always available to lean on, to take a break and rest for a moment. But the deeper message has to do with reliance, "Don't rest on your sword, soldier - it won't deliver you". Rather, "Trust in the Lord." The message here is, "Don't rest on your staff, shepherd, it won't be able to provide all that is needed in every situation." Rather, "Trust in the Lord." For us this could refer to whatever it is that we do in our work - it can't be ultimately relied upon.
The other image is a reference to the king who in public appearances would be seen leaning on his assistants, both physically if he is old and weak, and figuratively - the king relies on the counsel of his advisers. The message is clear: "Don't rely on human counsel. Trust in the Lord."
III. Now let's get to this idea "trust". It's a familiar expression to us. Every day we use it. Whenever we handle our money, there is this constant reminder: "In God We Trust".
A. The word "trust" is "batakh", which literally means "to cling to", to "confide in", or "to set one's hope and confidence upon". I like the idea "Cling to". How well I remember walking along Main Street in Rockport on July 3rd. Fire works were popping all around us as we moved with the throng approaching the beach where the bon fire was blazing. The orchestra was in the band shell across the street, scores of boats filled the cove. We had brought our dog Cloudy with us, but it had become obvious that we shouldn't have bothered with the leash - the whole way there Cloudy clung to my leg for dear life. I could hardly walk. That's a picture of each of us, in times of high anxiety and stress, clinging onto the leg of God, receiving both guidance and protection.
Actually, this trust which is "to set one's hope and confidence upon" is a trust that we exercise every day as a matter of routine.
We understand what it means - the challenge is to direct this trust "in the Lord."
B. In the Old Testament story of "Daniel's Three Friends", we have a dramatic example.
Daniel 3:28 - Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God."
But notice these three factors;
1. Trusting God was a habit which had been practiced at the very beginning of their captivity. When the trainers wanted them to eat the "king's meat", they asked to be exempted because it violated their religious convictions about unclean foods. So they negotiated a trial period during which they would only eat vegetables, and trusted God to enable them to be approved. This is a model for us to follow today. Tomorrow I will accompany a parent to her child's school to meet a teacher who is requiring reading material which is offensive. I've asked the child to bring with her a book, recommended by the librarian, to be of the same reading level, so that we can ask the teacher to be willing to let the child substitute this book for the offensive one. 2. They openly declared their trust in God. They said, "The God we serve is able to save us." (Daniel 3:17) This is the "confession with the mouth". Saying it out loud is important. Unfortunately we live in a land where "tolerance" has become the expected attitude, and this often results in silence. No longer are we willing to publicly declare our faith in God, because someone will get offended with our taking on this superiority complex, and sound like we're judging all those who don't believe the same as we do.
3. They were willing to trust God even if it would not result in physical salvation. (Daniel 3:18) Here's the ultimate test of faith, a willingness to sacrifice everything in our declaration of devotion to worship and serve God.
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