Trusting the Lord with Those Decisions
Reflecting on Proverbs 3:5-6
Decisions, decisions, decisions. Life is filled with decisions. From the moment we wake up in the morning to the time we close our eyes in sleep at night, we are faced with decisions. As a pastor I want to make the right decisions for our church. As a husband I want to make the best decisions for my family. But if I’m honest, at times I struggle with making the right decision. Thankfully our gracious Lord has provided for us clear directives on what to do with decisions.
Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding but in all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Sounds easy enough. But I must confess, for me, trusting God isn’t always easy. Perhaps you find yourself like that too. What are we to do when the constant barrage of decisions rolls in? Here are some holy, helpful hints:
- Believe that the Lord is interested in you. I believe this is important because it’s impossible to trust someone when you don’t believe they even care. And yet there some saints that believe God is far too busy to be concerned with their “issues.” However, Jesus taught in Matthew 10:29-31, that if our heavenly Father cares about a little two-for-a-penny sparrow, He certainly cares about every detail in our lives. So, trust Him because He’s interested in you (I Peter 5:7).
- Believe that the Lord will help you: Solomon encourages us in the Proverb’s passage to trust the Lord because if we do, the Lord will direct our paths. It seems we often think that the Lord is playing a cruel game of hide-n-seek when it comes to us discerning the path He wants us to take. But that’s just not true. Our heavenly Father wants us to know the way and He promises to direct us (Job 31:4,121:8, Isaiah 58:11).
- Believe that the Lord knows better than us: Did you catch what our passage says? “Lean not to your own understanding.” Here is where I most often get in trouble. I want to do what, “I think,” or what “I feel,” or what seems best to me. However, the Word of God teaches us that when it comes to making decisions, we need to humble ourselves down, and admit, “Lord Jesus, You know better than me.” I love how Jeremiah 10:23 puts it. “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” A better thing to do rather than relying on our own abilities is to “acknowledge” the Lord in all our decisions. We sometimes skip over that part of the verse too quickly and we miss its true importance. To acknowledge the Lord in all things is simply to take notice of Him, to consider Him, to be conscious of His presence, to be aware that He is right there with us.
Prayer: “Lord, I acknowledge that You are with me and that you’re interested in everything about me and everything I do. Today I will share everything with You as I surrender my will to Your perfect will. Guide me in this decision. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”
Bee-Attitude
Blessed are they that believe God is interested in them, for they shall be encouraged. Blessed are they who put their trust in the Lord and not themselves, for they shall be directed.
Author Profile
Terrence M. Curtis
Terrence M. Curtis is the pastor-teacher and visionary of the Calvary Baptist Church of Jonesboro and Barnesville, GA, starting these churches respectively in 1997 and 2022. Having been called to preach at the tender age of 14, he has dedicated over 42 years of his life to preaching the Gospel. He received a Certificate of Theology from The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC), a degree in Biblical Studies from Faith Bible Institute, a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Education and a Master of Divinity degree from Restoration Theological Seminary. He and his beautiful wife Shelia, to whom he’s been married thirty-eight years, have three children and twelve grandchildren.
