Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.     Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV

This Scripture is one of my favorites. It says God will direct your paths. All you have to do is trust in Him with all your heart, not lean on your own understanding and acknowledge Him in all you do. It sounds so simple, doesn’t it. That’s all you have to do.

It’s so much easier said than done. Why? Because most of us want to have control over our lives or we want to think we have control over our lives. In reality, the last thing we should want is to have control over our lives. I can tell you from personal experience I have made a mess of mine on several occasions.

This has happened when I have not trusted in the Lord but have done things my way. Leaning on your own understanding can cause problems but leaning on God can keep your paths straight. It’s easier said than done.

Wanda Jackson released a hymn called Learning to Lean in 1931. Its lyrics say, “Finding more power than I’d ever dreamed, I’m learning to lean on Jesus. There’s glorious vict’ry each day now for me; Since I found His peace so serene; He helps me with each task, if I’ll only ask. Ev’ry day now I’m learning to lean.”

Leaning on Jesus takes practice. It takes learning. It takes maturing as a Christian. It’s not something that just comes naturally or comes along as soon as we accept Christ as our Savior. It is a learned behavior.

I have come to realize that it is a continual learning process. I will tell you I have learned to lean but then a situation will come along where I start thinking about what I could do to fix it. This is dangerous thinking my friend. We must realize that we should truly acknowledge God in all we do. We should never lean on our own understanding.

We should always be leaning on Jesus. We should always trust in Him and strive to do things His way. We learn His way through Bible study. We lean on Him through prayer.

God gives us instructions on all we need to do if we will simply study His word. We can’t lean on someone with whom we have no contact. This is why prayer and Bible study are so important in our lives.

Are you learning to lean? How’s that going. Do you lean on God when the going gets tough but forget to trust in Him when things are going well? Do you give yourself the glory when God blesses you or do you acknowledge it’s all Him?

Leaning on God is not a part-time thing. It should be something we do each and every day, 24/7. We must realize that if we are not leaning on Him, we are pulling against Him.

When we struggle to do things our way and they are in contrast to His way, no good comes from this. I can tell you from personal experience.

My prayer for you today is that you are learning to lean. I also pray that you understand it is a continual learning process. We must practice it always. We must lean on Him and acknowledge His power in each and every situation.

I am happy to say that I’m still learning to lean. I’m sure this learning process will go on until I am with Him in glory, and I’m good with that.

I am really enjoying the peace that comes from being in a trusting relationship with my Lord and Savior. You too can have that peace if you are willing to learn to lean.

Have a great day!