An Appointment with Christ: Proverbs 3 (Part 5)

On this occasion, we continue our study of this wonderful passage from Proverbs Chapter 3. We have spoken about God’s call to treasure the Bible, the word of the Lord, not to forget God’s law, and to keep His teachings in our hearts. We have spoken about the benefits of length of days, years of life, and peace that are added to us when we base our lives and our conduct on the word of the Lord. We have also spoken about Scripture’s call not to let mercy and truth depart from us. We have said that a person who loves the word of God is a person of mercy and a person who guides his life by the principles of the truth of God’s word. We have spoken about how, when we live a life of mercy and truth, God gives us favor and a good name; in other words, we gain a good reputation with God and with men.

In fact, when I reflected on that passage again, I remembered what the Bible says: that the Lord Jesus Christ grew in favor in the sight of God and men. Do you know that when you live a righteous life and a life of mercy, you not only gain favor and a good reputation with men, but you also score points, so to speak, with God? God looks down from His throne and feels a special satisfaction in those of His children who live according to His word. And how good it is to have a good reputation in the sight of God. How good it is for us to be able to approach the throne of God and know that we do so with a completely clear conscience because we love God, because we love His word, because we have fellowship with Him. It is not that we are going to be saved by works—that is not the point—but God has special regard for those of His children who carry out His word and obey Him. And when we pray and make requests before God, we have much more authority if we do so in the name of Jesus than those who have only their own lives and personal conduct to commend them. When one makes use of God’s mercy, grounded in the word of the Lord, then God’s grace never ceases to flow over our lives.

It says, “...you will find favor and a good name in the sight of God and men.” And in this passage, in verse 5 here in Proverbs Chapter 3, the writer, inspired by the Holy Spirit, continues speaking to us and advising us: “Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear Jehovah and turn away from evil, for it will be medicine to your body and refreshment to your bones.”

The first thing that catches my attention is that the writer of Proverbs says, “Trust in Jehovah.” In other words, to trust in the Lord means to have confidence in the Lord, to lean on Jehovah—that is, to entrust your life and place your hope in the Lord. How good it is when a man or a woman walks along the paths of life trusting—that is, entrusting themselves to the Lord—having confidence in the word of God, committing themselves to Him, knowing that on our own we are not powerful enough to defend ourselves, protect ourselves, or make the decisions we have to make.

There are many people in the world who live with tremendous arrogance. They walk with complete confidence in themselves; they strut through life trusting in their intelligence, their talents, their cunning, and their strength, and they reflect the pride of the self-sufficient person, the person who believes that he needs no one—not even God—because his money, his strength, and his profession will provide what he needs. That is the greatest foolishness there can be.

The Bible says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. The most powerful person is the one who does not trust in himself but places his trust in the Lord. The strong person is the humble person, the person who knows that life is too complex to navigate by depending only on personal cunning or personal resources. The most powerful man is the one who fears God and entrusts himself to Him, knowing that he cannot trust in himself but must place his trust in the Lord; before leaving his house, he asks God, “Lord, cover my head, get into my car with me, take me to work, and bring me back home with Your blessing and protection.” The powerful person is the one who does nothing and makes no decision, great or small, without first consulting God and asking Him, “What do You want me to do, Lord?” That person does not trust in his own understanding but knows that he needs God’s understanding. Trust in Jehovah, young person. Trust in Jehovah, man. Trust in Jehovah, woman, because when you trust in the Lord and place your hope in Him, when you make yourself humble and dependent on Him like a child, then you can enjoy the resources and power of your heavenly Father.

I believe that is why the Lord Jesus Christ said that unless we become like children, we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The person who truly loves God and the person who is truly wise is a person who, like a child, is always attentive to the will of the Lord. Just as a child walks through a market or one of those immense malls found in the great cities of this nation, clinging to the hand of his father or mother because he is afraid of getting lost if he strays from his father’s or mother’s presence, so too must we walk along the paths of life with that total dependence on God, never departing for even a moment from His presence or His teaching. Trust in Jehovah with all your heart.

It is important that this trust in the Lord not be merely partial or ceremonial, but wholehearted. When we depend on the Lord in that total, complete way, that is when we truly begin to enjoy genuine wisdom. The writer says, “...do not lean on your own understanding.” How many people lean precisely on their own wisdom. They believe that by relying on their own understanding, their own judgments, and their own conclusions about life, they will achieve success, and one day they discover that the path that seemed so promising is simply a dead end. They reach old age and discover that they have wasted their time because they never took the time to consult God, seek His will, and seek His teaching for their lives. “...do not lean on your own understanding.”

The writer says, “Acknowledge Him in all your ways.” Before you make any decision in life, before choosing a profession or a job, marrying a particular person, deciding to make an investment, or buying a house or a car, you should ask God, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

The writer of the Epistle of James says, “Woe to those who get up in the morning and say, ‘Today we are going to trade in such-and-such a place, or we are going to sell in such-and-such a place; we are going to do business; we are going to such-and-such a city,’ instead of saying, ‘If God wills.’” We must, at all times, put God first in every matter of our lives.

Many times, if we had taken the time to consult God and truly listen to the voice of His Spirit within our being when we were about to make great decisions or small decisions in life, perhaps we could have avoided serious mistakes that we later bitterly regretted. The person who acknowledges God in all his ways—in other words, in every decision and every aspect of his life—has a much greater chance of living a fruitful and happy life. Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight.

I invite you to acknowledge the Lord in all your ways—that is, in all your decisions and every matter of your life. In this way, you will become happy.

The Bible says, “...for it will be medicine to your body and refreshment to your bones.” May the Lord give you that attitude of trusting in Him and not in yourself. May God grant that we be humble and always place our hope in Him, not in human strength. God bless you.