Journey to Resolve
Resolution 10: Trust God's Ways
Tell my feet not to falter
Tell my lips what to say
Tell me walk on these waters
Tell my hands what to pray
Overwhelm, when I’m overwhelmed
Overcome, when I’m overcome
These are lyrics from a song called Companion by Tom Mottershead. Sometimes life overwhelms us. It overwhelmed Job whose experience with naysayers was featured in Resolution 9, Rise Above the Naysayers.
We ended Resolution 9 with encouragement to entrust ourselves to God. Job realized:
He doesn’t have the perspective to understand the why.
Nothing can compare to the authoritative power of God.
His limitations should be accompanied by humble trust in God’s wisdom and character.
And he said this in response:
My ears had heard
of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise
myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job 42:5-6
Job bowed in humility. He lost everything and he would never fully understand why. We don’t understand the why behind the winding in the path He designed for us, so we need Him to walk with us. That’s what we learn from our next 20:25 verse.
A person’s steps
are directed by the
How
then can anyone understand their own way?
It is a trap to
dedicate something rashly
and only later to consider one’s
vows.
Proverbs 20:24-25
As a book of
wisdom, the obvious author of Proverbs is Solomon. He didn’t write
the entire book, but he wrote
most of it, including the above verses which speak to Resolution
#10: I will trust God’s ways.
If we have already been working on Resolution #9, we are well on our way to trusting God’s ways. In Proverbs 20:24-25, Solomon wrote about a person’s life path. It’s easy to read verse 24 separate from verse 25, separate from verse 1 and 10 and 16 and 30 for that matter, because it feels like there are 30 separate sayings gathered into one chapter. But I see here a chapter that contrasts quick fixes and impulsiveness with wisdom and dependence on God. Here are a couple thoughts about planning and stepping through life with wisdom and dependence on God. I hope we find encouragement from this slice of Solomon’s wisdom in Proverbs 20:24-25.
1. When making plans, seeking God’s direction gives us proper footing
The “steps” Solomon wrote about imply companionship. He wrote about keeping pace or stepping regularly with God. When we walk through life, we want God to direct our steps. So, let’s plan and walk, and allow God to be our companion through all of it. Let’s keep regular pace with God. We might be good at proceeding through life on our own, but when we do it with God, He makes us even better.
**** Click to tweet ****
We might be good at proceeding through life on our own,
but when we do it with God, He makes us even better.
****
The truth is, we’re only good at doing life if God makes us good at it. We’re only good planners if God makes us good planners. We maintain a godly life only if God keeps us in his righteousness by His grace. He gives us strength. He offers perspective. He directs us and clears the paths before us. He sees our future. We see with limitations, only as far as the present.
So,
what drives our plans? If we walk with God, our aspirations and plans
are aligned with God’s ways and will. With
God as our companion, He incorporates His plans into our plans,
refining (and sometimes changing) our plans to align with His wishes.
In their hearts
humans plan their course,
but the Lord
establishes their steps.
Proverbs 16:9
When
we walk with God, we find success – success in God’s plans for
us.
The Lord
makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
though
he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the Lord
upholds him with his hand.
Psalm 37:23-24
But
“how...can anyone understand their own way?,” Solomon asked in
Proverbs 20:24. We can’t forecast our steps. We don’t know how
things will play out, so we proceed with humility and surrender.
2. Alignment with God’s ways requires humility and surrender
Only
God knows our specific course in life, but stepping in companionship
with Him is sometimes a struggle – maybe even a power struggle. In
Proverbs 3:5-6, Solomon suggested what our attitude should be when
carrying out our plans.
Trust in the Lord
with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in
all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths
straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
In what do
we trust when it is not God? What do we need to give up and lay at
Jesus’ feet?
**** Click to tweet ****
In what do we trust
when it is not God?
What do we need to give up
and lay at Jesus' feet?
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Our 20:25 verse in Proverbs warns us about our promises to God – that our commitments or offerings, even to God, can lead us down a dangerous path when done with arrogance and impulsiveness. Coupled with verse 24, we see that when we step through life without a humble commitment to God’s ways and will, we walk into a false sense of accomplishment. We’re not really walking with God in a productive way that pleases Him. We need to seek His help when we make plans and humbly surrender our wills to His ways.
After all, He knows what’s best for us, doesn’t He?
Here’s the full song I quoted in the introduction to this post. Listen to the lyrics about the artist’s need to have God as His companion in life both continually and when life gets hard. Life is often hard.
Companion (Official Lyric Video) - Tom Mottershead
5 more resolutions to come...
The resolutions and Bible books in this series:
I will…
- Worship God Alone (Exodus 20:24)
- Be More Holy (Leviticus 20:24)
- Aim High (Numbers 20:24)
- Trust in God’s Strength (Judges 20:25)
- Nurture Quality Friendships (1 Samuel 20:25)
- Stand for God’s Government (2 Samuel 20:25)
- Follow God through Highs and Lows (1 Kings 20:25)
- Let God Win My Battles (2 Chronicles 20:25)
- Rise Above the Naysayers (Job 20:25)
- Trust God’s Ways (Proverbs 20:25)
- Allow God to Correct Me (Ezekiel 20:25)
- Serve Others Without the Glory (Matthew 20:25)
- Rely On the Wisdom of God (Luke 20:25)
- Trust the Words of My Savior (John 20:25)
- Complete the Work God Has for Me (Acts 20:25)
If you want to dialog more about walking with God as your companion, feel free to leave a comment or email me at authordlv@att.net. God wants to be our companion in life and for life.
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