There are many passages of Scripture which stand out in the minds of many believers. Many people have adopted a verse as their "life verse", that is, a verse they hold to as a particular guide for their lives. One such verse for me is Micah 6:8, "What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." A couple of other verses which are particularly meaningful to me are 1 Corinthians 10:31 and Nehemiah 8:10.
One passage which many Christians refer to often as a life verse or favorite verse is Proverbs 3:5-6 . . .
"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."
This passage is a classic example of the promises God has made to His people. Examine it a little more closely and you'll see that this is a "covenant promise" or a promise that is contractual in nature. Throughout the Scriptures we find passages that are what I call "If . . . then" promises. God says, "If you do this and that, then I will do such and such in return." A great example of this is 2 Chronicles 7:14 . . .
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
Obviously, Proverbs 3:5-6 doesn't contain the words "If" and "Then", but they are implied by the way the statement is written -- If you trust . . . and if you lean not . . . and if in all your ways . . . then He shall direct your paths. Well, enough of the linguistics. I think you get the idea. Let's focus a moment on the message of this passage.
These are pearls of wisdom from the father (Solomon) to his son (Rehoboam) about knowing the will of God. Solomon instructs his son to do three things which will allow Him to be open to and receive God's direction for his life. First, he exhorts his son to put his complete trust in God. Just like in our day, Rehoboam would be bombarded from all angles with advice about what He should do to live the "good life." Solomon had listened to a lot of those "voices" himself, and as we can read in Eccelsiastes, all that he gained for his efforts was a lot of confusion and a final conclusion that all of that extra-curricular stuff was "vanity." His advice to Rehoboam, "Son, do yourself a favor and don't go down the path I traveled. Trust completely in God and you will be much better off."
The second thing Solomon advises was to recognize that you don't know it all. In fact, realize that to try to figure it all out on your own is folly. That is tough for a young man to hear, and harder for him to accept. Usually it isn't until we have experienced some of life's bruises do we start to understand that maybe there is a lot more to life than we thought. Actually, it can provide a great deal of relief when we understand that we don't have to know it all - we simply need to get to know the One who does know it all.
The third thing Solomon says is necessary for knowing the will of God is to recognize that life isn't about me, it is about Him. This goes back to some of my first posts when I drew from Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life. When we give recognize the true nature of life and give control of it to God, then we are ready to live in obedience which is the key to receiving God's blessings including His direction.
An important thing for us to understand about God's direction is that He isn't like the person who stands on the side of the road and points us in the way to go. No, He takes us by the hand and walks with us so that we don't face anything without knowing He is right there. God desires to be active in our lives. He wants to enjoy our company. And He deeply wants to fill our lives with the most amazing blessings.
So trust God, look to Him for understanding, and let your life be all about Him. You'll know great peace because God is at the controls and He is taking you to abundant life.
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