Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Proverbs 3:5-6
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not
on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will
make your paths straight.
--
several years ago, I came up with the idea that I wanted to hike the entire
Appalachian Trail – 2,200 miles – stretching from Georgia to Maine – I had
hiked most of the trail in Georgia and North Carolina when I was in school, but
I guess I was in the middle of a midlife crisis – and I decided I wanted to
start over and hike the whole thing from Georgia to Maine – just not all at one
time, but by taking sections of it over time
--
I recruited a friend and his kids – and together we planned our first section –
from Woody Gap to Amicalola Falls – about 30 miles – we figured it would take
us three days and be a good warm up for our plans to hike the whole thing
--
well, long story short – even though I had prepared and trained for the hike, I
didn’t consider the fact that I had sleep apnea and had to use a CPAP machine –
I thought that I would be okay without the machine for three days – but I wasn’t
--
the elevation and the exertion of hiking the trail caused my oxygen levels to
plummet, and I couldn’t move – I just gave out – and in defeat, I called Kim to
come get me at a pickup location in the middle between Woody Gap and Amicalola
Falls
--
in my preparations, I had bought a guide book for the trail – and it gave
precise instructions on how to get to the various road crossings and pickup
points – and it had put in bold print for this location, “Do not use your GPS” –
it said that the GPS would try to route you on the shortest route, which was a
precarious trail really not passable by vehicle – that instead, you should go
up on a paved road north to the next town, take another paved road south, and
then you would find the dirt road that led to the pickup point
--
when I called Kim, I told her all this – but somehow, the importance of this
point didn’t come across to her – so, as my faithful and dutiful wife, she set
out to rescue me – she plotted in the location on the GPS and took off to get
me – following the trail that the guide book said was impassable
--
and Kim quickly learned why – it was a narrow trail that could barely accommodate
a vehicle – it had sharp drops and hairpin turns – and there was no way to turn
around once you got started – you were committed at that point
--
she persevered and finally came out at the pickup location – she ran across a
group of Army Rangers in Humvees and asked them if they had seen me – and they
asked her how she had gotten there – when she told them, they said, “We don’t
go that way”
--
thankfully, we all found each other and made our way back out safely to
civilization – with many lessons learned about following directions, trusting
God, and knowing He will make our paths straight – something this passage in
Proverbs speaks of
II. Proverbs versus Promises
--
I was reminded of this passage in a devotional I am currently reading – this passage
– Proverbs 3:5-6 – is one of the most familiar passages in all the Bible – we see
it on photos – on t-shirts – on bumper stickers – it’s one of the passages that
many people have memorized – and for good reason – because there are some great
truths in these two little verses
--
before we look at these verses in more detail, let me share some thoughts about
this book in general
--
the book of Proverbs can be confusing to a lot of people, because we want to
take all these little wise sayings to heart and believe that since they are in
the Bible, they are always 100% accurate – but that’s not true – and when
proverbs do not come to pass as we expect them to, it can cause doubts about
our faith and about God
--
many parents have been left doubting God because their children continued to
stray from God in their lives and do things they shouldn’t, despite what
Proverbs 22:7 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is
old, he will not depart from it"
--
proverbs, by definition, are not always promises and will not always come to
pass
--
that’s why knowing how the Bible was written and why the Bible was written are
important to our faith
--
The book of Proverbs is given to us as a collection of wise sayings, advice,
instructions, and warnings that circulated among the people of Israel – it
opens with the structure of a life manual from a father to a son telling him to
follow these sayings for the benefit of his life
--
these proverbs are encouragements to live wisely and in a way that obeys and
honors God – but like I said, we need to be aware that these sayings and the
advice in the Book of Proverbs are not always promises that will come true 100%
of the time
--
A proverb is by definition a saying that accurately represents what is usually
true, not what is true without exception. – proverbs are guidance – they are
principles -- they are sayings that reflect how life usually works out, but not
guarantees of a certain outcome
--
for instance, we all know the old saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”
– but we also know this is not true – there is wisdom there, for if we eat an
apple a day – if we choose to eat good and healthy food instead of food that is
bad for us, it will generally help us to be healthier
–
but no one believes that if we simply eat an apple a day that we will never get
sick – that’s not the way it works – this proverb about eating an apple a day is
a general principle – if you follow it, more often than not, good things will
happen – you will generally be healthy, but not always – and that is the case
with most of the proverbs in this book of the Bible
--
some of the proverbs, though, are promises – they are truths that are promised
elsewhere in Scripture and we know that we can rely on them being absolutely
true because God has promised this in His word
--
so, before you take any of the proverbs in this book as absolute truth, you
must interpret them within the context of the whole book before you try to
apply them to your life – you have to determine if a proverb is just a wise
saying or whether it is a promise from God
–
those proverbs that are promises are proverbs we can stand on – like the
passage that we are looking at this this morning
--
the other proverbs provide guidance and wisdom, but understand that they are
not absolute truths unless God states so elsewhere in His word
-- this is where knowing and reading
and studying your Bible – having a good working knowledge of what the Word of
God says -- truly helps you in your walk with Christ and in your daily life
-- so, with that introduction, let
us turn now to Proverbs 3:5-6 – and let’s look at this proverb – which is also
a promise from God for us
III. Scripture Lesson (Proverbs 3:5-6)
-- let’s read this passage again and
then we’ll start looking at it in more detail
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not
on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will
make your paths straight.
-- if you are keeping notes on the
messages, there are five key words in these two verses that we need to pay
attention to: Trust – Lean –
Understanding – Acknowledge – Direct
-- we’ll go over all of these
separately as we look at these two verses in detail
-- first, trust
-- verse 5 says that we are to “trust
in the Lord with all our heart” – trust is the key word there because all
relationships in our lives are governed and ruled by trust – that’s true
whether we’re talking about our relationship with the Government – with the
economy – with the banks and the stores – with transportation, especially in
driving – and in our relationships with other people
-- none of these relationships could
exist without trust
-- for instance, when I pull up to a
traffic light, I am trusting that the other drivers at that intersection are going
to follow the rules – if the light is green, I am trusting that the drivers to
my left and right are going to stop and not hit me – if the light is red, they
are trusting that I will do the same
-- the same is true with everything
in our lives – we trust the government is going to use our tax dollars to
protect us and serve us and meet the needs of our community – we trust the bank
is going to protect our money and that we will be able to get money when we
need it – and in relationships with others, we trust that they are going to act
with our best interests at heart – if we are married, we trust our spouse with
our very lives and they trust us with theirs
-- trust is the bedrock of all
relationships and life – and this especially is true when it comes to our
spiritual life – we have to put our faith and trust in God and God alone
-- that’s why Solomon instructs us
here to trust in the Lord with all our hearts – this means that we are putting
our eternal lives – our spiritual lives – our very souls – in the hands of God
and are trusting that He will take care of us to infinity and beyond
-- this means that in all aspects of
our life – spiritual, physical, and emotional – we commit ourselves to Him in
faith and trust that He will always protect us and take care of us
–
this is what He promises in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for
you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future.” – and in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all
things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose”
--
God tells us that we can trust Him because He is trustworthy – and our act of
faith is to put our trust in Him with all our hearts, as Solomon advises here
-- an important consideration here
concerning this promise from God is Solomon’s instruction to trust in the Lord
with all our hearts – trusting in Him with all our hearts means that we are
completely and totally trusting God with our lives and our eternity – this means
our trust is not divided – we don’t have divided loyalties – nor divided minds –
we’re not “double-minded” as James puts it
-- instead, we are completely and
totally putting our trust in God and Him alone – we are singular in our focus
and in devotion
-- this is the foundational
requirement of the promise – and it leads right into the next key word – Lean
-- Solomon says here that we are not
to lean on our own understanding – what does it mean to lean on our own understanding?
-- to lean means that we are resting
on something – we are relying on something – for partial support – think about
someone who uses a cane or a walker because they are unsteady in their gait –
they are leaning – they are trusting – on that device to make them steady
-- the opposite of trusting in the
Lord with all our heart is to lean on our own understanding – to put our trust
or our faith in something else – whether that is the wisdom of the world or the
wisdom of our own heart and understanding
-- the Bible tells us that we are to
lean only on the everlasting arms – to lean only on God – to put our faith and
trust in Him to support us and not on anything else
-- I assume you are all aware that
we are in the midst of an election cycle – for months, we have been inundated
with messages from politicians asking us to trust them – to lean on them – to depend
on them for our future
-- understand this – a politician
might be able to help in the short-term, but you can’t lean on any politician
or any human long-term – they will always let you down – they will always fail
to do what they promise
-- the only person that we can lean
on with complete and total trust and faith and confidence in Jesus Himself –
for He will never leave us or forsake us – He will never let us down – in Him,
all the promises of God are Yes and Amen
-- as Ray Pritchard puts it, you
lean on something when you are not strong enough to stand alone – and the only
One we should ever lean on is the Lord Jesus Christ – for He is the only One
able to bear us up in all things
--
the third key word in this passage is Understanding – and Solomon advises here
that we not lean on our own understanding
-- the reason for that is because we
are human -- our understanding and our intellect and our knowledge are limited and
biased – we see life through lenses with cultural and social biases – we look
at life and try to make it bend to what we want – and that will never work
--
“Understanding” refers to the mental processes by which you analyze a problem,
break it down into its smaller parts, and then make a decision about what you
are going to do
--
for example, when you wake up in the morning and make a list of all the things
you need to do that day, you are using your understanding to prioritize your life
– to make sense of it – to plan it out
--
God has given us the ability to do this – but what happens when we try to do
things outside of God’s will? – what happens when we try to live life in our
own strength and in our own wisdom? – it doesn’t work
--
ever heard the cliché, “Want to make God laugh? – Tell Him your plans” – that’s
because our plans are made with human wisdom and human understanding – we emphasize
doing what we want to do – what we think will make us happy – but when we go
outside the bounds of what God’s word says, our plans always fail to make us
happy or satisfied or successful
--
that’s why we can’t lean on our own understanding – on our own wisdom – to get
by in life – we need God’s wisdom to lead us and guide us down the path He
wants us to follow – we need to trust in Him with our whole hearts and not lean
on our own understanding
--
look back at verse 6
Proverbs 3:6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will
make your paths straight.
-- here we see the next key word – Acknowledge
or Submit, as the NIV phrases it
-- what does it mean to acknowledge
or submit to the Lord? – in the Hebrew, the word that is translated as “acknowledge”
is a command – it means to bend your knee – to submit to someone – to defer to
their leadership and wisdom in all our ways
--
when I worked at Fort Benning, we became very familiar with the base because we
were out in the woods and on the trails every day from sunup until closing time
– you could drop us anywhere on that base, and we could tell you where we were
and how to get back to the office
--
one day, we ran across a group of soldiers doing land navigation – they had a
compass and a map and they flagged us down and said, “Where are we?”
--
we showed them on the map where we were and then they started arguing with us –
they said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about – we’re not there – we can’t
be there – we have to be over here”
--
finally, the biologist I was with said, “We’re not the ones who are lost – you are”
– and when they refused to listen, we got in the truck and drove off, leaving
them just as lost as they were at the beginning
--
that’s what happens when we lean on our own understanding – we think we have it
all figured out – we think we know what we are doing – we think we know where
we are in life – but we’re really lost – and the only way to find ourselves is
to acknowledge and submit to the One who knows the way
--
this means putting our faith and trust in God – acknowledging Him as Lord of
our life – submitting to Him in every way
--
this means that we listen to Him and lean on Him and trust in Him and not
ourselves – this means putting God first and putting His priorities above our
own
-- when we do all of this – when we
trust with all our hearts – when we lean not on our own understanding or on our
own wisdom but lean on God’s understanding – when we acknowledge Him and submit
to His Lordship over our lives – then Solomon tells us that God will direct our
paths
-- there is a path that God wants us
to follow – and if we trust – lean – understand – and acknowledge Him – then He
will direct us down the path He wants us to follow in our lives today – that’s
why “Direct” is our final key word in this passage
-- let me ask you this? – who is
directing your path right now? – who do you look to for directions in life? –is
it God? – is it the world? – is it yourself?
-- we’re having a problem with Amazon
deliveries right now – ever since they opened up the Amazon delivery center
here in Valdosta, we have had a problem with the drivers finding our house
-- whatever GPS system they are
using, it keeps trying to route them down this non-existent road through a
trailer park – and invariably, we get calls from them saying, “We’re here, but
we don’t see your house” – and we say, “You’re not here, because if you were, you
would see our house”
-- I sent a message to Google Maps
and had them correct the GPS routing to our house to show this road as blocked,
but it hasn’t helped – these drivers still insist on following their own wisdom
and their specific GPS directions and they keep going down the wrong path
-- that’s what Solomon is advising
against here in these verses – he tells us that if we will trust in the Lord with
all our hearts – if we will quit leaning on our own wisdom and human knowledge –
if we will quit trusting the world and what it says – if we will submit to God
and trust that He has our best interests in mind – then He will direct our
paths and make our paths straight
-- there is a right way to go in
life – and the trail that we are to follow as Christians begins on the Via
Dolorosa – the way of the cross – the path that Jesus took from Pilate’s judgment
seat to Calvary
-- we follow the path to the cross
to find salvation – and then we follow Christ as He leads us into
sanctification – as He guides us down paths of righteousness for His namesake –
as He shows us the way we should go that will lead us to becoming more and more
like Him
-- this is the path – this is the
way – and God promises to lead us on this path – to direct our steps – and to
make straight our way – if we trust in Him and acknowledge Him with our whole
hearts
IV. CLOSING
--
Mark Twain wrote, “What a wee little part of a person’s life are his acts and
his words! His real life is led in his head, and is known to none but himself.
All day long, the mill of his brain is grinding, and his thoughts, not those
other things, are his history.”4
-- by pointing out that a person is
led by their thoughts – that their actions follow their understanding – Twain was
reiterating the truth that Scripture teaches
-- both here and in the Book of
James, we are told that our actions follow our desires and our thoughts – when we
lean on our own understanding – when we try to choose our own path based on
human wisdom and understanding – we will invariably fail and find ourselves
lost
-- the proper course to take is to
trust in the Lord with all our hearts – to lean on Him and to acknowledge Him –
to submit to His Lordship in our lives – and to follow the path that He directs
-- that is the way of life – and as
this proverb promises, if we do that, our lives will be the best we can hope
for
-- over the years, one of the most
frequent questions that I am asked is, “How can I know the will of God? – How can
I know what God wants me to do?”
-- in these verses, Solomon gives us
the answer to those questions
-- when we decide to put our trust
in the Lord
–
when we decide to not trust in our own understanding but give attention and
priority to God’s revealed word
–
when we decide to acknowledge and honor God and submit to Him in all that we do
–
God’s word promises that God will direct our paths – He will show us the way He
wants us to go – He will give us direction and reveal to us His will and His
way
--
that’s how you know and follow the will of God
--
as Dave Guzik puts it, “When we do those things, we can trust that God will
direct our paths. We can go forward in peace, believing that through His word,
through the leading of the Holy Spirit, through the counsel of others, through
godly common sense, and through life circumstances, God will direct our paths.
We will walk along our way of life and come to see that we have been on the
path God intended all along.”2
-- so, as we close now in prayer, I
want us to take a moment to consider where we are in our lives today – are we
following God? – or are we lost somewhere in a plan of our own making?
-- shortly after we moved back to
Georgia, Kim was trying to find her way around and ended up on a country back
road – she thought if she kept driving, it would eventually get her to where
she wanted to go – but when she passed a little country church, she saw the
sign out front that read, “God allows U-Turns”
-- she took that as a word from the
Lord – turned around – and made her way back to the right path
-- that is the whole message for us
today – if we are on the wrong path this morning – if we have taken a wrong
turn and find ourselves going somewhere we shouldn’t – then remember that God
allows U-turns
-- all it takes is trusting in Him
with all our hearts – leaning not on our own understanding – acknowledging and
submitting to Him in all our ways – and knowing that He will then direct our
path and lead us to where we need to be
-- so, let me encourage you to
respond to God’s word as you feel led – and if you need to make a U-turn this
morning, please do so as we close
-- with that, let us pray
---------------------------------------------------
1 Dr.
Constable’s Expository Notes, Proverbs 3: https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dcc/proverbs-3.html
2 Dave
Guzik, https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/proverbs-3/
3 Ray
Pritchard, https://www.preceptaustin.org/proverbs-ray_pritchard#3
4 (Reader’s
Digest [1/93], p. 155).
