“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; but in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV)

Not too long ago I was chatting with God about my feelings toward my own inadequacy.  Ever done that?  News flash: He already knows how inadequate we are.  That is why He gave us His Spirit.  I don’t think we always fully grasp the power that we have obtained in the Holy Spirit.  And not just the power, but the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, strength, and capacity to love that we have in him.  We can prevent Him from being able to work in us because we measure who we are by what we think we are capable of on our own. 

So, in this chat I was having I went on and on explaining that I have faith that the Holy Spirit speaks to me and is working in me and has great plans he wants to lead me in.  What I don’t have is faith in myself.  I don’t trust that I’m going to hear him, understand what he says, comprehend his language, or be able to catch His signals and follow where he is trying to lead me (I am directionally challenged after all).  Amid my whining parts of Provers 3:5 began playing through my mind.  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”.  There it was.  His answer back to me.  “I never told you to trust in yourself.  In fact, I specifically said not to.  You only need trust in ME.  I will make your paths straight.”  Let me tell you, I heard that!  Let’s look at this scripture in a few other translations.  I like to do that as I feel it gives a greater understanding.

“Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.  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).” (Prov. 3:5-6 AMP)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know.  Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way.” (Prov. 3:5-6 GNT)

“Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions.  With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make.  Become intimate with him in whatever you do, and he will lead you wherever you go.” (Prov. 3:5-6 TPT)

The Hebrew word for heart here is “lēb” and it means the inner person, self, the seat of thought and emotion: conscience, courage, mind, understanding.  “Trust in me with all your heart” is a command.  And we are to command our entire being (our thoughts, emotions, conscience, mind, soul, will, spirit) to trust in Him.  The more we recognize who He wants to be for us in any given situation the more we can grow in this.  But we do have authority over ourselves, to command our thoughts to trust in God.  Command our emotions to trust in God.  Command our understanding to trust in God.  I think even just saying that out loud when we have a moment of doubt, fear, or confusion greatly empowers us.

The Hebrew word for acknowledge is “yāda’” and it means to know, recognize, understand, have intimacy.  He also commands us to acknowledge Him in all our ways.  To me this means to look for Him in everything I do.  To recognize Him in all that is around me.  To invite Him into every thought, action, desire, and to know Him in all of it.  God knows us intimately, but we need to know Him intimately.  God knows every thought before we think it, every word we speak before we speak it, every step before we take it.  Do we know what He thinks, what He says, where He is, how He feels?

Paths.  The Hebrew word for this is “ōrah” and it means road, way, thoroughfare, way of life, manner of conduct.  Those last two, way of life and manner of conduct, were intriguing to me.  The Hebrew word for straight is “yāšar” and it means to do good, do right, to be evenly hammered, gaze straight, extension of doing an act that is not perverse but right or just.  God gives us commands to trust in and acknowledge Him in all that we do, think, feel, all that we are.  Then He makes a promise to make our way of life and manner of conduct righteous.  This is like saying “Keep your entire being constantly tuned in to me and I will make your thoughts, your words, your actions, your desires, your walk, your perspective, your behavior, your decisions, your gaze, your understanding, all of you I will make good and right with me.”  That is an amazing promise!

This is all part of “becoming one” with Him.  In John 17:22-23 Jesus prayed that we would be made one with him and the Father.  “I in them and you in me.  May they be brought to complete unity…”  We are supposed to become of one mind and one heart with Him, or should I say them (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).  It’s kind of like how my husband and I always seem to be able to share thoughts without speaking.  I can’t tell you how many times a thought enters my mind and before I get it out my mouth he says exactly, word for word what I was thinking.  We’ve spent enough time together to know not just what one another wants or likes or dislikes, but actually to think alike.  We have become of one mind.  In this same way, as we grow closer to God, we can expect to come to a point where it is no longer “me” or “Him” but “us”.  His thoughts become my thoughts, our thoughts.  His desires become my desires, our desires.  His perspective becomes my perspective, our perspective.  His words become my words, our words.  His heart becomes my heart, our heart.  This is really what He wants for us.  That He can live through us.  “For in Him we live and move and have our being…we are His offspring.”  (Acts 17:28 NIV).

After spending some time exploring all of this I no longer say, “I don’t trust in myself” with my head hanging and an attitude of self-pity.  I now say it as a declaration of truth with a celebratory stance.  “I don’t trust in myself!  I trust completely in the LORD!  I bring Him into every thought I have, every emotion I feel, and every action I take.  I am learning what He thinks and how He sees, leaning completely on Him in all things as we are becoming one.  As I do this, He promised He will guide me, guide my thinking, my understanding, and my way of life.  He will make all of my ways, all that I do, and all of me right with Him.  Thank you, LORD!”

*Hebrew words and meanings taken from The NIV Exhaustive Bible Concordance by John R. Kohlenberger III.