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 shall direct your paths.” NKJV
This verse is a great reminder of how we, as Christians, are to live our lives. We can’t afford to be as confused about life as the children of the world are. One minute we are thinking we should go in this direction, and the next minute, we are second guessing ourselves. It’s not of God. He is not the author of confusion!
After we give our lives to the Lord, we are to start trusting Him, relying upon Him, and leaning on Him for the direction of our lives. Today’s blog will focus on “and He shall direct your paths.” The Amplified Bible states it like this:
In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, and He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
Proverbs 3:6 AMP
The word “yashar” in the Hebrew covers a wide range of the direction that the Lord has for those who trust in Him. It means to be straight or even; to be (to make) right, pleasant, prosperous:—direct, fit, (make, take the) straight (way), be upright(-ly).
In other words, the Lord will cause your path to be straight. His direction will even cause you to be right, to be pleasant, to be prosperous. He will direct you, make you fit, or make your way right. All of this point to one thing: when He’s leading you all will be straight in your path, or things will work out for you!
David understood this principle to be true. He and his mighty men had gone out to battle with the Philistines. However, most of the Philistines did not trust David to truly be on their side, and did not want David and his men to go into battle with them against the Israelites. When David returned to Ziklag with his men, the camp had been raided and burned to the ground, and all the people had been captured and taken away. David’s men were furious with him and wanted to stone them.
This was a hard time for David, just as it was for his men. However, he couldn’t afford to make a wrong decision about his next steps, so he inquired of the Lord.
And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?’ “Pursue them,” He answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”
1 Samuel 30:8 NKJV
If you are familiar with this passage, then you know that David truly did overtake the raiders and did rescue them all. Not a life was lost, not a possession destroyed. He trusted God to lead him and his way was made prosperous, and his path was made straight.
Ezra is another man who comes to mind. He asked the king’s permission to go to Jerusalem to help with the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. The king gave him permission and restored the treasures of the temple to him. When he left for Jerusalem he had many treasures and a host of individuals and their children; but no human protection. He said that he was ashamed to ask the king for help after declaring that God’s hand was on them because they were looking to Him. So on the way, he declared a fast to seek God, and God answered him. They made their way safely to Jerusalem without incident.
I have found God to be just as faithful in my life. I go to Him about the big things and the little things, and the things in the middle. I will share only two:
In my young adult years, it appeared that all of my friends were getting married. I really wanted to join them in the state of matrimony, and as I was praying about my life, God told me to join the Navy. I didn’t want to join the Navy. But I obeyed God. After I signed the papers, God spoke to me and told me that I would meet my husband and that he would be an officer. That gave me a sense of encouragement. As I obeyed God, He led me to my husband in an airport in Sicily. He was an officer, a gentleman, and a believer! And for extra measure, he was handsome! That’s how God operates! We have been married for over 30 years!
My husband wanted our daughter to go to high school in the seventh grade. She would have to travel by bus or train to go on the other side of the city. I wasn’t happy about this. Not wanting to smother her, or be in disagreement with my husband, I asked Him what should I do. He gave me a dream, and in the dream she was taking the admission exam. I noticed a man kept going over to her and redirecting her as she answered the questions. I woke up troubled and said to the Lord, I don’t believe in cheating and neither do you, so what are you saying. He responded that He would be with her in that test, assisting her and she would excel. I knew that meant that she was supposed to go to that school, so she would get in. I had peace about the situation and it turned out to be a great school for her.
Life was a little dysfunctional for me growing up. Maybe you can identify with that statement. One of the things I really needed from the Lord was some stability and a lot of guidance. Asking Him to lead me is no small matter in my life, in our lives. Praying about a situation is not the last thing we do, but the primary thing that we do. Over the years we have seen Him work out situations that seemed impossible. We have seen Him cause our way to prosper. We have had obstacles moved out of our path, and we have seen Him straighten things out that only He could straighten out.
This blog didn’t necessarily go in the direction that I had intended when I started it, but the Lord knows. Maybe I will be able to share more on the subject later. My hope is to encourage you to begin to trust Him with everything in your life so that you can watch Him make your path straight! Wonderful Jesus!
