Day 3 - Trusting in God

As you are reading this, I am traveling from Florida to Colorado.  I will be working in beautiful Boulder, CO for the next 3 1/2 weeks.  This time of year when I travel for my work, it is somewhat bittersweet.  I miss my family terribly while I'm gone.  But I get to go to some really cool places.  Anyway, on to today's look at Proverbs chapter 3.

This is one of those chapters where I feel tempted to type out the whole thing for you to read.  I am only going to touch on the points that really spoke to me.  However, I hope you will read each chapter in full as we go along.  Maybe something I write here will be a launching off point to somewhere else God is taking you.  There is so much more in each chapter than I am covering.  This is really me sharing with you my personal insights at this point and time in my life.  I could read these chapters six months from now, and God would probably be speaking something else to me.  That's how fluid the word of God is!

Verses 5 - 6 state, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths." (New Living Translation)

These verses are known and quoted by many of us.  However, are we really trusting in the Lord with all our heart?  How do we not lean on our own understanding?  I think verse 6 explains how we are to accomplish verse 5.  We must seek His will in ALL we do!  I think in our everyday life, that just means pray and ask Him to show you His will for your day.  God knows you have to go to a job, or get the kids to school, or teach the kids at home, or get on a plane, etc., etc.  But, we can still ask Him how He would have us approach that day.  What words should I speak?  Is there anyone He wants you to speak to specifically?  Is there someone you can lend a helping hand to today?  If we do this He will direct our paths.  

Again, I can't stress enough that there is much more in this chapter that you will want to read.  I just don't want to be writing a commentary on every single verse.  I don't think I have the talent for that, and I certainly don't want to bore you.  So I will be skipping down to verses 27 - 28.

"Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it's in your power to help them.  If you can help your neighbor now, don't say, "Come back tomorrow, and then I'll help you."

If you have the ability to help someone in need, just do it!  I love how it states, if you can do it now, don't wait.  This makes me think of my pastor and his wife.  They especially follow this principle when it comes to prayer for people.  When someone is in need of prayer, they do it on the spot.  They don't tell the person, "I'll be praying for you".  They pray now!  I get reminded of this periodically and try to make that my habit.  I must admit, I'm not always in the now when it comes to praying for others.  Though I think it is a great way to operate.  Another thing that comes to mind, is when we recently had a neighbor trying to leave for work and their car battery was dead.  I was out with the dog, and he asked if we had jumper cables.  My husband came out and helped our neighbor jump the car and get to work.  I couldn't believe how such a small helping hand meant so much to them.  They brought us over some baked goods the next day as a thank you.  And went on and on about how thankful they were for the help.  A tiny inconvenience on our part can speak volumes to someone without us even being aware.  

So for today, I'm taking this with me......I will seek His will day by day, and then I can trust in Him.  I will help others now, and not just when it is convenient for me.  Makes me think of what Jesus said....."You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself."

Until tomorrow.....

Jeanne

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