“So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:4 - 6
What a blessing in a believer’s life, to “find favour and
good understanding in the sight of God”. God gives us grace by His measure
of grace, our walk-in life is ordained by God as He ordained for us before the
world began. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians
2:10 But even though God controls our walk-in life and accomplishments, we need
to remember to walk strong for the Lord. Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica,
“Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy
of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work
of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in
you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Thessalonians 1:11 -12 Every believer no matter what God has called you to
do, ought to do it good enough to find favor in God’s sight by walking worthy
of God’s calling. Any Believer that is not walking to please God in every area
of their life are not walking worthy of their calling or walking to find favor
in God’s sight. The Lord went on to say, “Trust in the LORD with all thine
heart” We are to trust the Lord with everything we have within us, all
faith should be on the Lord. If you look back in the scriptures, you will find
those that God blessed the most walked worthy of their calling no matter what
that calling was. Moses, look how God used him and blessed him. How about Noah,
God blessed him and his family because of his faithfulness. God blesses Enoch by
allowing him to escape death, and God said of him “…for before his
translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Hebrews 11:5 Look
at Abraham God said of him, “…Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto
him for righteousness.” Not only because Abraham walked worthy of his
calling, but he also trusted God with all his heart. We see many of people both
men and women that walked worthy of their calling but also showed great
faith in God. There is only one way to walk worthy of our calling and that
is to trust the Lord with all our hearts. However, this can only be
accomplished by “…lean not unto thine own understanding” Our
understanding is not God’s understanding, God is always right, and people are
always wrong. Our own hearts will always mislead us, our understanding,
knowledge, and wisdom must come from God. God said, “So I gave them up unto their own
hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.” Psalms 81:12 but why
did God give them up, “But my people would not hearken to my voice; and
Israel would none of me.” Verse 11. If Christians are not going to walk and
be guided by God’s voice (which is His word) then they are going to follow
their own understanding. We must realize that the only good in us is what God
has graciously put in us. Total depravity means that there is no good in us, we
cannot walk own our own understanding. Therefore, so many believers have walked
away from the Lord because they follow their own foolish hearts. It is never
wise for a believer to think for themselves too much, we will find ourselves
falling away from the Lord. The Lord also said “…In all thy ways acknowledge
him…” Notice the Lord did not say in some ways but in all our ways “acknowledge
him…” because He is directing our path in everything. If we are doing
something, if we are accomplishing something, then God is not acknowledged. “And
whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” Colossians
3:23 That is, in your heart do as the Lord directs you and you will always,
please the Lord. It is because of this that the Lord is pleased and because of
this that the Lord will bless you. You will find all the people in the
scriptures that the Lord talked positive about followed the Lord and not their
own understanding. And if we do then God promised, “…he shall direct thy
paths.” What a blessing.
