Scripture: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” – Proverbs 3:5
Examination of Chapter: Solomon writes to his son reminding him to remember what he has learned about God. He instructs him to trust the Lord and know that God will lead him throughout his life. Solomon speaks of the importance of obtaining godly wisdom and sometimes that comes from God’s chastening. True wisdom grows through understanding and correction, and allows us to reflect God to the world in our actions.
Application: As a seasoned believer, I should have my Christian life exactly where it should be, right? Wrong! No matter how long a person has been saved, we are a continual work in progress as it states in Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” Here is just one of many occasions in my life when I am the recipient of a lesson God has repeatedly been teaching me.
I am in the midst of a vacation, visiting national parks and lakeshores and just having a wonderfully relaxing time with my husband. Yesterday, I wanted to take a certain boat tour off the coast of Maine, but when I checked the schedule, there were no availabilities for the next day. I was totally bummed because I knew this was my “last chance”. The day after tomorrow, we were scheduled to leave and head to another spot. Therefore, I chose to be a “grumble bug”. This mood lasted probably half the day. I didn’t get what I wanted… my carnal self was not happy at all, so I was justified in my attitude… or so I thought.
Fortunately, I didn’t sulk all day, and we ended up having a nice day of sightseeing on our bikes. But we still had the question of “What would we do for our last day at this site?” We decided that we would go bike riding for one more day since the boat tour was off the table. I have to admit that deep inside I still was unhappy about that, but it was what it was.
Now I have to back up just a bit. Earlier in our trip, a warning light had appeared on the dashboard of our truck. We got an opinion on it from a service center that assured us we could continue along on our trip unless it came on again. In that case, we would get it checked out to see what was causing the warning light to come on. When the light came on again just before we arrived at our current campground, we knew we had to make some decisions of what to do and when.
Back to the morning of our last scheduled day. My husband called another service center near our next stop and explained the situation. Yes, they could look at the truck, but with the weekend… well, getting parts could be an issue. Hmm… what to do now? We decided to pack up and leave a day early to see if that might help if the service center had some extra time to maybe get a part. Can you see the lesson here? If I had had my way, we’d be booked for a boat tour and unable to leave a day early to get to the service center in time perhaps to get any parts needed. Who knew? God did.
To many, this is really not a big deal… certainly not something God would need to be involved in, but I don’t believe in coincidences in a believer’s life. God knows what is wrong with our truck; He knows what my husband is thinking and feeling about this warning light, and He knows if parts will be needed. Does this mean when we arrive at the service center that our truck will be fixed right away because they’ll have the part and the time? I don’t know that.
My heavenly lesson wasn’t about that. It was about me trusting God in every situation that occurs in my life. I didn’t get the boat tour for a reason unknown to me until today. I should have trusted Him yesterday, and chosen contentment instead of resentment as Paul stated in Philippians 4:11, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”
When will I ever learn? Eventually, but I do know I am a work in progress, and the One who is “working” on me will continue providing lessons in my life to grow my faith and help me become more like Jesus every day. The next time my plans don’t go according to the way I want, hopefully I will remember this day and trust God with the change of plans before I become a “grumble bug”!
Moments with God: My dearest heavenly Father, forgive me for having a bad attitude about not getting my way. I need to be like Paul and regardless of life’s circumstances, I need to trust You more with everything that happens in my life. I know that You will never lead me astray, and You do make all things good in Your time. Thank You for this lesson. Please help me remember it. In Jesus’ precious name, I pray. Amen.