Page 136 - Grace150 Devotional

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5–6

My grandmother gave me a new Bible before I left for college. She wrote inside
the cover, “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.”
As a young person I took little notice of what she had written until later. When
I was feeling low and discouraged, I opened the Bible and read those words in
Grandma’s handwriting.
She was wise in many ways, and she never judged us growing up. I hadn’t
appreciated this until later, when I was on my own. I had grown up in a Christian
home and was a member of Grace Presbyterian Church most of my life.
In Proverbs 3:5–6 we are told, positively, to trust the Lord and, negatively, not
to trust our own understanding. Those two things are mutually exclusive and
opposite. In other words, if we truly trust in the Lord, we cannot also depend
upon our own ability to understand everything God is doing. This is difficult for
us, as we naturally want to control everything. And society screams, “Be your
own person; do it your way!”

Lord, help us apply this direction to our daily life, and focus on You and not
man. Give us the strength to persevere, and let You alone direct our paths.
– Wayne Pullen

DAY 129 grace 150