Compared To Everybody Else, I Should Be Fine
By Phil Scovell
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,
(Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV).
Have you ever sought encouragement from a friend, or someone
you highly respect, and all you received in reply was a
regurgitation of this, not so new, doctrine that I call
comparative Theology? Oh, sure. You know the one I am talking
about. The standard come back, "Things could be worse" syndrome.
How about the, "Look at old brother Joe. Compared to him, you
don't have any problems at all." Then there is the one that
states, "If you were any kind of a Christian at all, you would be
thankful you aren't as bad off as sister Calahan." The variations
on this theology is limitless. I call it theology because that's
the way it comes across when you get caught in the cross fire by
Christians who have achieved perfection and have no feelings any
longer. The problem with this twisted form of theology is that it
is not true, it doesn't work, and it doesn't help. In fact, you
generally feel worse by comparing your situation with others
around you because they were never meant to be your source; Jesus
is.
Proverbs 3:5-6 is a passage of Scripture I learned as a
child. I always hated what I thought it meant, too, because I
could never fit myself into that level of spirituality. Deep down
inside, I also knew I would never reach that level of relationship
with God. Plus, I was lousy about comparing myself to others and
focusing on someone else's sorrow and sadness. Yet, I memorized
Proverbs 3:5-6 and quoted it to myself often. It rarely made me
feel any better but it was the Christian thing to do because it
made you a more spiritual person just because you had memorized it
and just because you recited it from memory out loud. Well, I
can't help it, that's what I was taught.
It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway,
recently, things were very stressful. As I prayed, Proverbs 3:5-
6 kept coming to mind. I said, "Lord? Please! I don't think
that is the passage that will help me right now. Do you have any
better ones because that one never seems to work for me." No
other passages came to mind so after several days of being
pestered by the Holy Spirit, I decided to go and study the passage
to check if there was something I wasn't seeing.
TRUST
Believe it or not, trust doesn't mean what you think it
means. The idea of trusting the Lord always disturbed me,
however, because I have been a Christian for 50 years and I could
never quite get it. This last year, however, the Lord revealed
something to me I had never recognized. The word "trust" in this
passage, has even a deeper meaning than just to be able to rely
upon the Lord. It means to have security and to feel safe. Now,
there's something you can sink your teeth into and get your own
personal theological thoughts around.
In recent months, the Lord also specifically answered my
questions about how I go about trusting Him. My personal
definition of trusting the Lord is quite simple because it is
based upon what the Lord told me. It is knowing for certain God's
Word, or more specifically, knowing God's voice, which, of course,
is His Word. You are going to discover many Christians, some with
pretty popular names, who believe the first part of my definition
but not the second. These will be those who have never bothered
reading John Chapter 10 and paid attention to what Jesus said
about His own sheep knowing His voice. Those who have read it, of
course, think He, Jesus, was just speaking metaphorically. Good
old Jesus. You can always depend upon Him to muddy up the true
meaning of His own Words by speaking in word pictures that nobody
can understand except great Biblical scholars and theologians. A
little cynical tongue in cheek there, of course, but I tried.
Years ago, I was sitting in a counselor's office. In fact it
was over 25 years ago. I was confused about my Christian life.
The Christianity I had been raised under wasn't working so it had
to be me, of course, and not what I was taught. After all, that's
what controlling others is all about.
My own pastor had come to my home and told me I was a failure
in the ministry and that I simply didn't know God's will for my
life. There is no feeling like being pounded into the ground when
you are already hurting and are at the lowest point of your entire
life. So, naturally, I went to a Christian counselor to find out
what was wrong with me because, as great as my pastor was, I knew
he was wrong. You would be alarmed if you knew how many
Christians end up in a therapist's office after something their
pastor said to them.
I remember in one of our counseling sessions, the Christian
counselor asking me if I had ever heard the Lord speaking to me
about His will for my life. The Christian counselor, by the way,
was a Baptist. So was I. I was taught, as a Baptist, and back in
those days, that if you heard God speaking to you, something was
psychologically wrong with your mind. Only demons spoke to
people; not God; surely not God. I know how stupid that sounds
now but back then, it was how I was taught and it was what I
believed. I had to admit to this counselor that I had received no
such direction from the Lord. I understand now what he was trying
to say.
In 2003, the Lord spoke to me one day as I was studying some
intercessory training prayer materials. He told me to order the
advance materials so I could learn more. I told the Lord I wasn't
interested in doing any advanced learning in this area but was
only interested in doing it for my own personal relationship with
him. He insisted I order the advanced materials. I asked, "why?"
He said, "Because you are going to be working with sexually
abused women and people with multiple personality disorders."
"I said, "What did you say?" I explained to the Lord, I had
no interest in this area at all. Furthermore, it had absolutely
nothing to do with what I thought I was supposed to be doing for
the Lord as far as full time ministry was concerned. Yet, His
message was clear.
You should carefully note that the Lord did not suggest this
to me or even say, "I have called you to the ministry." All He
said was, "This is what you will be doing." So much for being
called and anointed and led by the Lord. Quite simply, Jesus
assigned me to the work He wanted me to do. By the way, I obeyed
His Word. This was the first time I understood what trust was all
about and I didn't like it then any more than I do now.
As I was studying the advance training intercessory prayer
materials a few months later, I was sitting on our deck swing. I
decided to go inside to get a drink. The split second I stepped
through the open doorway leading into the house, I heard in my
spirit, "This is who you are now." It was so loud in my thoughts,
it nearly made me stop dead in my tracks. I realized I had moved
into a completely different area of my relationship with the Lord.
I could hear His voice now and His written Word now made sense to
me in ways impossible to describe. In short, the Lord was
teaching me to trust Him and that is scary when you've never done
it before. By the way, He teaches us to trust Him by revealing
Himself to us in very deep spiritually intimate ways and, yes, it
is for every child of God.
TRUST IN THE LORD
About this time, somebody is saying, "Well, dah. Who else
would we trust as Christians if it wasn't the Lord?" Oh, that's
an easy one to answer. How about yourself? The very first
person we all trust in is ourselves. Oh, no self-respecting
spiritual, born again, Bible toting, church going, Bible thumping,
Bible believer would ever admit to such a thing. If they were
honest, however, they would have to admit self always comes first.
Except, of course, those who have learned the hard way and
generally more than once. We rarely get it the first time. Take
it from me, I know, because I'm still learning this one. So, the
question really should be, "How do we trust the Lord?"
First, the word for "Lord," you likely have guessed, in this
passage is "Jehovah." It is spelled that way so it can be
pronounced. It originally, as written by the Jewish translators,
had no vowels. This is due to the fact that "Jehovah," was, and
is, the "Existing One," that is to say, the "I am." Yes, I know
"Jehovah" and the words "I am" in Hebrew are different Hebraic
words but they are the same person. If you missed it, Jesus and
God are the same person. I don't care if you don't like that idea
because your opinion isn't important as far as God is concerned.
This is why Jesus said, to the Jews who were inquiring as to His
true identity, "Before Abraham was, I am," (John 8:58). They
disliked this identity as God so much, the bible says they took up
stones to kill Him. How do we, therefore, react when Jesus, The
Word, (See John 1:1), says, "But my God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus?" (Philippians
4:19). Do we take up stones to cast at Him or do we believe Him
because He is The Word? Oh, but I thought we trusted him. You
mean, we don't? Maybe it's just that we have trouble believing it
means "us," that is, "we," or those of us who are His own
children?
I got to thinking about this idea of trusting the Lord
recently. The only comparison I could settle on was how I trusted
my father when I was little and growing up. I always believed we
would have food on the table. I also believed my dad would read
Bible stories to us when we went to bed each night because he
always did. I never doubted once that my dad would drive the car
when we went to church. I never doubted the bible was the most
important thing in my father's life than anything else in the
world. I never once doubted he wouldn't lead someone to Christ if
he was witnessing the Gospel to them. I never worried about the
car having enough gas in the tank or the lawn mower being out of
gasoline when I went to mow the grass. I never figured when I got
ready for school that I would be without clothes in my dresser. I
never worried about having shoes for my feet. I knew if the
light went out in my room, dad would get a new bulb and replace
it. I knew when the house needed painting, dad would do it. Why?
First, he was my father. Secondly, he did the things for me I
could not do for myself. Oh, but you say, "I can work and make
my own money. I pay for the food we eat. I buy our clothes. I
pay to send my kids to Christian school." Woe horse! You can't
even take a breath without the Father God. Jesus said, "Without
me, you can do nothing,"(John 15:5). So don't give me this bilge
of garbage about what you can do for yourself because Jesus isn't
buying it. "But doesn't God expect us to do things for
ourselves?" Listen, if you don't have horse sense, you are
unstable. Pun intended. If you think, on the other hand, these
are things you are doing, underline the word you, you have the
wrong concept of Lordship salvation. Go ahead and work for
yourself. Jesus will let you carry all that heavy burden all by
your lonesome until you drop from exhaustion. When the wheels
come off your life, and the bottom false out of your relationship
with God, and when your train jumps the tracks, and you crash and
burn, it won't be His fault because He said, "My burden is light,"
(Matthew 11:30). The good news is, when you crash and burn, He'll
be there to lift you up and to rebuild your life. Now there's an
aspect of Christian growth most preachers fail to teach.
One day I was working in my office doing high speed cassette
duplication for a customer. I was praying, more to myself than
the Lord since my prayer had taken the form of complaining rather
than petitioning, and I said, "Lord? I just can't carry these
burdens because they are too heavy for me." As clear as a bell, I
heard a voice inside of me say, "Then they aren't mine." I
suddenly realized I was carrying all my own burdens and thus, they
weren't being cast upon the Lord for Him to manage. So, as I
said, go ahead. Work on your own salvation all you want. Develop
that relationship with the Lord by adding up everything on your
"Do Gooders" list until its a mile long. Count up all the things
you've done to prove you indeed love God. Subtract all the things
you don't do because they aren't Godly. Wave your Sunday school
pin under God's nose and show Him how you haven't missed Sunday
school for the last 28 years. Point to your bible college and
seminary degree to make sure Jesus knows you done graduated.
Flash your ordination certificate around and see if He notices.
Tote that big large print King James bible around with you so
everybody knows just how Godly you are. Don't forget your tithe
and your missionary offering and your building fund offering, and
all you, and your church, do for the poor. Don't forget to toss
your prayer life in on top of the whole thing, too, and whatever
you do, if you are going to work it all out on your own, don't
forget all the people you've won to Christ. That impresses Jesus
the most because He really needs you and without you, He can do
nothing. Isn't that how we think the verse really reads? Once
you run out of things to list to make yourself feel Godly, as I
did one day sitting in a hotel waiting for the pastor to pick me
up for the revival meeting I was supposed to be preaching in his
church that night, you will realize that your life is over.
That's right, I said, your life will be over. The life of Jesus
as Lord will then, and only then, begin to be manifest in your
life and not one second sooner. Put a match to it and as they
say, "As you burn for Jesus, people will come to watch."
WITH ALL YOUR HEART
It doesn't take much to recognize the meaning of this part of
the passage. Of course the Lord wants all of what we have as a
person, that is, our heart. In context, this "heart" isn't the
physical organ that pumps blood throughout the body but the real
person, the real you, in other words. Let me show you what I
mean.
"14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is
named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of
his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;
that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to
comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness
of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ
Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen,"
(Ephesians 3:14-21).
There is another very interesting passage that I would guess
is not often considered when we think about who we really are
spiritually.
"1 Likewise, ye wives, [be] in subjection to your own husbands;
that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be
won by the conversation of the wives; 2 While they behold your
chaste conversation [coupled] with fear. 3 Whose adorning let it
not be that outward [adorning] of plaiting the hair, and of
wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But [let it be]
the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible,
[even the ornament] of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the
sight of God of great price," (1 Peter 3:1-4).
What would be your guess as to the meaning of, "the hidden
man of the heart?" Oh, by the way, the word for "man" in both
Ephesians 3 and 1 Peter 3 is the generic usage of the word. That
is, it can mean man or woman. The "inner man" and the "hidden man
of the heart" is the real you. Simply stated, if you die, your
spirit instantly is in Heaven with the Lord, (See 2 Corinthians
5:8). What is left, your body, we bury. So, your spirit is what
is born again, or born anew, or is created to be compatible with
that of the nature of God. Thus it is the Holy Spirit can
indwell your spirit, (see Romans 8:9, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and
Ephesians 1:13).
AND LEAN NOT UNTO THINE OWN UNDERSTANDING
The word for "lean" simply means (to support oneself). The
basic meaning of the word "understanding" is discernment. So, it
simply means, don't just trust your own feelings, ideas,
creativity, logic, or human reasoning. Why not? Because you
might discover you aren't as smart as you think. Let me
illustrate what I mean.
I trust one of my older sisters won't ever read this but she
is about 11 years older so when this happened, she was probably 14
or 15 years of age. That would have made me about 3 or 4 years
of age.
Our dad had been painting the living room. Our upstairs was
a finished off attic with two bedrooms. When you opened the
closets to hang your close up, the steep slanting roof was right
there to touch. We had no heat and no air conditioning upstairs.
The bathroom was also upstairs. In each bedroom was a floor vent.
They were a rectangular shape about 2 feet long by 1 foot wide.
The secret was gravity. According to physics, heat rises but
whoever came up with that law never slept in my bedroom, that's
for sure. Anyhow, I used to love going into my two older sisters
bedroom and looking down through the vent to the living room. I
would find small pieces of paper, marbles, bobby pens, clothes
pens, rubber bands, and just about anything else close at hand to
drop down the vent and watch them fall into the living room.
Well, as I said, dad was painting the living room. When he
got to the ceiling, he unscrewed the bottom half of the vent so he
could paint the ceiling without the vent getting in the way. This
was great. I went upstairs one night and pulled off the upstairs
vent in my sisters room. Now I could not only see down into the
living room without any blockage but I could toss all types of
larger things down the big whole. I had one problem, the upstairs
vent was too heavy for me to pull back into place. I tried and
tried but couldn't get it back into the whole. So I pushed it as
far away from the hole as possible so no one would see what I had
done. I then took one of the throw rugs in my sister's room and
covered the hole and went downstairs.
Later that evening, we were all in the living room. I
believe we had some friends over, too. I know we were not
watching TV because our TV was in the dinning room and besides, we
couldn't watch it when company was over anyhow. My sister
announced she was going upstairs and left the room. Moments
later, there was this god awful blood curdling scream the came
from upstairs and before the scream could die away, this bare,
pure white leg, shoeless, came snaking down into the living room
from the whole in the ceiling. It thrashed around wildly, like a
striking snake, as the screaming continued. My dad jumped up and
ran upstairs to lift Saundra out of the whole because she had no
way of pulling herself up. Staring at the wildly kicking bare
leg, I thought to myself, "I am going to get the worst whipping I
have ever experienced over this one." Fortunately, for me, my
mother, and everyone else, including my dad, thought the whole
thing was so funny, I was totally forgotten. My oldest sister
hates this story to this day but I love telling it since I never
got punished for it.
Now, what does this story have to do with "leaning on your
own understanding?" Well, my sister, God bless her, had been
trusting on the strength of that vent for years. It had always
supported her weight, regardless of how many times she stepped on
it, as she entered her bedroom. Her trust was, therefore,
complete and it had never failed her before.
Circumstances have a strange way of suddenly changing and not
always for the better. As a Christian, what happens? Normally,
we immediately dive for cover, or run out and get an extra job
pumping gas, or call a rich friend or relative to borrow some
money, or maybe we call the bank, whip out the credit card for
groceries, Call the doctor for medication, and sometimes we might
even call the pastor. Of course, all he can do is pray and his
prayers have never seemed to work for you before, so why bother
him now. Besides, he doesn't even care for you in the first place
and beyond that, he is worse off than you are right now. In our
passage under consideration, however, we are told not to lean on
our own understanding. Why not? Well, as with my sister, your
understanding may not be quite the same as God's in that given
situation. It is best, therefore, to check with the Lord first.
Let me expand further.
Many years ago, when our three children were smaller, we had
just left the Baptist church. We had to leave or we would have
been asked to leave. Why? I spoke in tongues now and I knew
somebody would find out eventually. When they did, I'd be out.
In fact, when they did find out, although it was six months after
we had left the large Baptist church we attended before anybody
seemed to notice, my three children, who still went to their
Baptist Christian school, were denied scholarships because, we
were told, we were Charismatics now. That's the truth; believe it
or not.
During that winter, my daughter became ill. I had seen our
children miraculously healed at different times and been instantly
healed myself a couple of times. I was confused concerning what
to do for her at this particular point for some reason. I had
prayed over her but she hadn't gotten better and her throat was
getting worse. As I walked into my bedroom to get something I
needed out of a dresser drawer, I prayed silently and said, "Lord?
I don't know what to do. What should I do now?"
The answer came back instantly, "Take her to the doctor."
We did and it was strep. Now you want to know, would I have
not taken her to the doctor if the Lord had told me to keep her
home? I don't know. When it comes to children and their well
being, well, you can figure what I would have done and that is I
would have taken her to the doctor any way. Why? Because I don't
believe? Yes, at that time, such would have been the case.
IN ALL THY WAYS
This may be difficult to believe but the phrase, "in all thy
ways," is a single Hebrew word which means (in all your ways). No
fooling. It has more meaning such as your journey in life, a
path, and a road, but "in all thy ways," covers it pretty well.
We have trouble believing this truth, however, because it
doesn't always seem possible. How could God be interested in all
our ways? In fact, there are some of my ways I don't want Him to
know about. Sorry, He knows about them all and He wants to help
you with all those ways, too.
I want you to take another look at the phrase, "In all thy
ways." Whose ways? Shouldn't it read, "In all of God's ways?" I
mean, we are supposed to be believing and following Jesus. At
least that's the way I heard it taught. So what's the bit about
"our ways?"
Years ago I was preaching a week of special meetings in
Montana. We were staying with a couple our own age at the time.
Sandy was with me and our first son had been born but he was still
an infant. As I mentioned, we were all about the same age, in
our mid twenties, so we decided that we would stay a second week
and just have a little vacation with these folks. They were
delighted and we had a great time on the ranch.
Jimmy, that was the rancher's name, had a great deal of land
and raise cows and calves. Thus, he was on the back of a horse
nearly ever day.
For the first couple of days, he would tie a lead rope from
my horse to his but after those firs couple of trips out to the
range, he asked me if I wanted to ride by myself without being
roped to his horse. I said, sure, and told him that as long as we
talked, I would always have a point of reference. Hence, I'd know
where I was going. I told him I didn't want to jump over any
fences or leap over any creeks without at least knowing about it
ahead of time, if you get my meaning. Jimmy laughed. We got
along just fine.
One day, we were out riding among the cows because Jimmy had
noticed a cow the had dropped a calf but she didn't seem to know
where it was. When I asked him why, he said that he had found a
blind calf roaming around balling for its mother. He brought the
blind animal into his corral the day before and now he was hunting
for the mother. I said, "Jimmy, how, out of 150 cows, are you
going to tell who the mother is?"
He said, "Well it's hard to explain but she'll just be
roaming around acting like she can't find her way or something."
"I doubted seriously, being the skilled cowboy wrangler that
I was, he'd ever find the mother. He did.
We talked as we rode but I could tell Jimmy was trying to
concentrate on the beeves, because his voice was often turned away
from me when he talked. Sometimes he never answered me at all.
So, again, being the skill horseman that I was, I decided just to
let my horse drift back a few yards and I would focus on Jimmy's
horse. That way, Jimmy could focus on the task of finding the
mother and I wouldn't be bothering him. So, I followed along
casually behind him as I listened to the herd as they moved slowly
around us.
About 15 minutes passed when I heard this tiny small voice so
far away, I wasn't even certain it was a voice. The faint voice
was saying as loud as he could, "Hey Phil. Ride down this way."
I kicked my horse into a little trot, and a few moments
later, I rode up to where Jimmy was now laughing. "What's so
funny?" I asked.
"What were you doing over there?" he asked.
"I thought I was following you. I knew you were busy so I
thought I'd just hang back and listen to your horse and follow
you."
Jimmy laughed. "You were following a cow, my friend," he
belly laughed again.
"Some horse you got here I'm riding," I huffed. "He don't
even know the difference between a horse and a cow," but we both
got a good laugh out of it.
The point of this story is simple. I was on my own path, or
trail, sort of speak, but my friend eventually directed me to
where he was. Jesus does the same thing. In fact, if you think
about it carefully, you are going to learn something about Jesus
you never knew before and that is, Jesus wants to do what you want
to do. "Prove it," you say? I thought I just did. "In all your
ways?" Isn't that what it says? You need more proof? Ok, let me
quote to you another passage of Scripture.
"7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask
what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so
shall ye be my disciples," John 15:7-8).
I grew up being taught that this passage of Scripture had to
do with evangelism, that is, winning, or bringing, the lost to
Christ. You can apply it to that topic but you cannot interpret
the passage that way. The passage, in its context, is clearly
talking about prayer and nothing else.
Let's clear up a couple of confusing parts of this passage
right up front. We have already cleared up one and that is the
topic, or subject, of the passage being about prayer. Generally
however, this passage is taught to be conditional. I agree.
However, the condition isn't what most think. I am referring to
the initial statements, "If you abide in me and my Words abide in
you." If you are born again, the Holy Spirit already dwells
within you, (See Romans 8:16-17 and Ephesians 1:13). The Bible
confirms that Jesus is the Word, See (John 1:1), and we are
already "in Christ," (See First John 4:15). So, in truth, we are
already abiding in Him and His Words abide in us.
Now, in case you have never heard this before, in the New
Testament, we have two distinctly different terms rendered "Word."
I have already referred to John 1:1 a couple of times in this
study but here is an excellent place to quote it. "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God.) The Greek term for "Word" in this little verse is
(Logos). However, the term used for "Words" in John 15:7 where
Jesus said, "If you abide in me, and my Words abide in you," is
the Greek term Rhema. Yes, the King James translators used the
same English word in both cases but the Greek words have different
meanings. "Logos" takes on the meaning of the totality of the
spoken Word. As just quoted, Jesus is also called "The Word of
God." He is, therefore, the totality of God and God's Word."
Why? Because Jesus and God are one, that is, the same person yet
uniquely different.
The Greek word for "Rhema" is a specific term, that is, as
in a stated promise. "Logos" is the Word. For example, when
Jesus was Baptized and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the
form of a dove, God the Father spoke from Heaven so it could be
heard by those on earth, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am
well pleased," Matthew 3:17). This statement is the Word; the
Word of God. "Rhema," on the other hand, is a statement in the
form of a promise. Since we are discussing John 15:7-8 concerning
prayer, we couldn't find a better illustration of a stated
promise. It is the Word of God but with specific intent, that is,
a promise.
Let's bring it right down to where we live. "I wear a cowboy
hat," is a statement, that is, my word of acknowledgement. It
carries with it information. When I say, "I am going to give you
my hat right now," that is a fulfilling promise which is being
carried out as I speak. If I said, "I am going to give you my hat
tomorrow," you would have a promise that is being fulfilled in
time but you could believe it now because you know me and you know
I keep my word. That is the difference between logos and rhema.
By the way, I am not giving you my hat because I know you
wouldn't wear it even if I did give it to you.
The rest of John 15:7-8 says, "Herein is my Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit; so
shall ye be my disciples." This statement further confirms
the promise that God not only wants to answer your prayers, but He
is glorified, that is, He is happy to do so based upon "what you
will," or, based upon what you are asking of Him.
Now, if you have forgotten what we were talking about, don't
feel bad. I am just trying to point out that God wants to do what
you want to do. If you are unable to see that from just these two
passages alone, you need to read and pray about it until you do
understand it. This Biblical principle is absolutely paramount
in your personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
ACKNOWLEDGE HIM
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine
own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him..."
Some of you are going to have trouble with this one. Why?
Because you aren't going to believe it. You aren't going to
believe it because you aren't going to like it.
The word for "acknowledge Him," in this part of the passage
is a Hebrew word which is (yada). You likely recognize this words
since it is used by so many today. For example, Some will say, "I
went to the library, the grocery store, the shoe store, and yada,
yada, yada."
The word "yada" is found hundreds of times throughout the Old
Testament. It is easiest to understand from Genesis 4:1 where it
says, "Adam KNEW his wife Eve and she conceived." That's right.
It is the word meaning sexual intercourse. I told you that you
wouldn't like it. If God is using such a powerful word to
describe the type of relationship He wants us to have with Him,
the question has got to be, do you have that type of spiritual
intimacy with God?
It should be obvious that this is a word picture. It has
been used divinely, on the other hand, to focus on the seriousness
and sincerity of the Lord's instructions concerning every day
circumstances. The application is what is confusing to most. In
my experience, I find precious few believers that can even
remotely conceive of the idea the God loves them that much that He
wants to do whatever they want to do.
DIRECT
The part of our passage which says, "And He shall direct thy
paths," is literally a reference to making our paths straight. We
may be drifting, leaning off center, feel unbalanced, and like we
have been walking the wrong way all together. Jesus, on the
other hand, knows where we are and He is right with us no matter
what is happening at any given time.
One of my cousins, many years ago, told me this story about
his cross country trucking days. He said he and his partner were
driving through a hard rain. They been on the road for many hours
and were tired. Although they were running slower than normal due
to the hard down pour, and although my cousin, who wasn't driving
at the time, noticed all the road construction equipment parked on
the side of the road, he and his partner thought nothing about it.
They were just trying to keep the truck on the road.
Suddenly, and without warning, the truck jumped off the end
of the asphalt and began slipping and sliding on the unfinished
road bed that was now mud. He said that it took them a mile
before they finally got the truck stopped but at least it didn't
jack knife or slip off the road bed.
Considering their situation, they knew they only had one way
to get back to where they had been. That was by standing outside
the truck cab on the running boards, and with their doors opened,
they both faced back toward the trailer and called direction back
and forth through the open cab as they slowly man handled the big
machine backwards in the mud, the night, and the rain.
A couple of hours later, they finally slowly backed the truck
up on to the solid road. They jumped down and walked all around
the truck to inspect it for damage. There was none but the entire
truck was caked in mud. They backed the truck further down the
asphalt until they found a side road, and got the truck turned
around and went on their way. They had missed the detour sign a
few miles further up the road and that's how they had gotten
themselves into an almost impossible situation.
I often think of this story when I feel like I have missed it
somehow. I have lost track of all the times in my fifty years
plus of walking with the Lord that I have felt I was lost and on
totally the wrong road of life. Yet, the Lord promises to make
all our paths straight. He can correct being on the road path if
we simply acknowledge Him in all our ways.
Many years ago, I was a youth pastor in western Colorado in
a small town church. For awhile I practiced going to sleep at
night by meditating on a picture of walking down a road all alone.
Green grass filled the eye as far as one could see to either side
of the road. I felt peaceful and eventually drifted off to sleep
thinking in this manner.
One night, however, the picture unexpectedly changed. I came
to the end of the road. I have written about it and called the
testimony, "Road's End." As I stood, in my mind's eye, looking at
the end of the road, I saw nothing but a continuous green field.
I finally decided this was a test and that the road likely
continued just beyond the next hill. I stepped out and walked to
the top of the first green hill. The road wasn't ahead as I had
expected. I walked to the next hill, and the next, and the next,
but no road was found. A voice kept yelling in my ears, "Go
back," but I pushed on. I knew the road had to be just on the
other side of the next hill. It wasn't. Eventually I became
hopelessly lost. Needless to say, I stopped thinking of this
mental picture because it no longer gave me comfort and kept me
awake instead of putting me to sleep.
Later, many years later, I realized that Jesus was with me
all the time although I was off the road and felt lost. All I
need have done was look up.
AND HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS
In has only been in recent times I recognized the true
spiritual impact of this promise. They are "my paths." All my
life, I lived attempting to please God by doing His will and
seeking to walk where He wanted me to be. I always felt I was
screwing up and missing the road and it seemed like I was being
robbed again and again of being where I wanted to be so
desperately. Then one day it dawned me that they were, as I said,
"My Paths." I don't worry nearly as much now about where I am in
life because as long as I am walking with the Lord, we are
together and He will straighten out the mistakes I make. In
short, Jesus wants to do what you want to do. I trust I have
proved this to your satisfaction by now.
CONCLUSION
In reality, as Born Again Christians, we don't have to worry
about where we think we might be in Christ because Jesus already
knows. All He requires is acknowledgement. That simple act
alone is spiritual intimacy with God. You don't have to work at
it because He has already completed all that work in our behalf.
What do we do then? Good question. The answer is simple. We
live in Him.
It Sounds Like God To Me.
www.SafePlaceFellowship.com
|