THERE YOU HAVE IT

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It's been there the whole time. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV): "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." Wow, that is some powerful stuff. Thank you, sweetie.

Let me back up and circle back to unpack this in a bit.

One of my kiddos and I spent last week in Copper Mountain, Colorado, for our annual ski trip. A massive shoutout to G and his boys for an amazing time of fun and fellowship and to falling and getting back up and, well… you get the idea. It was packed with great fun, many challenges, and much favor. When all was said and done, we had a great time and made it off the mountain and home safely. But only after being spoiled with God's grace and experiencing the splendor of His great works. Majestically snow-covered mountains drenched with sunshine one day and blizzard conditions another, but all truly magnificent moments when I trusted the Lord to navigate our day. It kind of sounds like a typical day in the life regardless of where you are or what you're doing on any given day. Yes? Yes.

Before digging in, I would like to explain the "thank you, sweetie" part. At 7 AM on Tuesday, March 5th, I still had no direction for this post. At 7:01 AM, my wife texted me with this scripture and her words of reality in real-time. She noted, "This is the scripture I really needed this morning. The world gets so loud sometimes, and I always have this need to know and understand everything. I find that with my understanding of the happenings all around me, I get in my own way. I was asking God about it. I couldn't even focus with so many thoughts and ideas flooding my mind. But then this scripture popped into my head." Safe to say, I'm sure we have all—and I mean all—been there and will be there time and time again. What a wonderful thing this is. This is how we become who we are and what we will be as time passes and journeys arise, and character is built.

Let's put in work and unpack Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6: "Trust in the Lord" means having faith and confidence and believing in the reliability of the Lord our God. "With all your heart…" This is a non-negotiable 100% all-in action required that you alone are in control of. 99% ain't gonna cut it. Believe me, I tried and failed on multiple occasions. That lack of 100% commitment led me to lean on my own understanding and put me on a path of self-destruction and misery. I couldn't understand why—duh! Really, Larry? Because you can't truly understand anything all on your own. "His greatness is unsearchable." (Psalms 145:3). So, to be clear, His greatness is inscrutable or impossible to understand or interpret. So, keep it very simple: "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."

In other words, submit to Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight. More simply put, surrender it all to Him, and He will lead you down the paths of righteousness. He will faithfully lead you down the most excellent, justifiable, and virtuous paths. Please note that "path" is plural and not singular. To me, this reminds me that He is with me on every journey every day, and by leaning on His understanding alone, He will lead us down the correct path every single time.

Here's a little bonus take from verses 7 and 8: (verse 7) "Do not be wise in your own eyes." Be wise enough to know that true and exact wisdom only comes from the Lord. And with this, rest assured that (verse 8) "this will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones." And to me, that's a wonderful thing.

Well, there you have it. Another day in the life and another post because I like hot butter on my breakfast toast. So, with every day, make the most by not relying on your own understanding. Yeah… that was stupid, but it made me laugh, so I’ll leave it in there. Thanks for joining me today as we keep moving forward through uncertainty, with the certainty that we are covered by grace and the comfort that our God is with us 24/7 to lean on and rely on with confidence that His plan will lead us down the paths of righteousness and success.

And if you’ve ever wondered whether He has a sense of humor, just go ahead and tell Him your plan. Trust me… He’s a funny guy.

Until next time,

Much love and be blessable,

Larry