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Proverbs 3:5-6

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 your paths straight.

Just as the intoxicated man fails to walk a straight line for the cop, too many Christians are far from the straight and narrow path commanded by the Lord. As hard as we try to walk it, those of us that do not have the guidance of the Lord will be disillusioned by the impurities of sin. A straight and narrow path will not only be difficult to walk, it will be all but impossible to find. Proverbs 3:5-6 gives directions from the Lord to those that desire to walk the straight path.

First and foremost you must learn to put all of your emotions, pride, and confidence in the trash without looking back. If you wish to walk through life with the Lord, there will be no room for such expressions of self. To “Trust in the Lord with all your heart” means to seek Him in every decision. You must not do anything without the influence of the Lord. The minute you make a single choice absent from the counsel of God, you have stepped off the path of faith and into the wilderness of self. In the garden of Gethsemane, before being nailed to the cross for your sin, even Jesus prays, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42). The first thing you must do in order to walk the straight path daily is to trust fully in God. If you continue to base even the simplest of decisions on your own understanding, you will continue to walk further and further from the path of the Lord.

Second, “In all your ways [you must] acknowledge Him.” I have often wondered what the difference was between trusting in the Lord and acknowledging Him. Paul acknowledges that “I can do all things through Him (Jesus Christ) who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13). He recognizes that it is Christ alone who gives him strength and wisdom. Not only must we place our faith in Christ, but we must never forget it is He who empowers us. It is He who has enabled you to do so well what you “do so well.” Pride is a difficult enemy to overcome. Once it has begun its work in you, only the Lord can deliver you from yourself. The easiest way to fend of pride and to remain on the straight path is to continually acknowledge God in all your ways. From getting up in the morning, to doing well in class or at work, to having dinner on your plate; you must continually acknowledge God as the provider of all. It is one thing to have faith in God. It is another thing to proclaim the blessings of that faith as works of God and not yourself.

The Lord has promised to make your paths straight if you will only trust in Him and acknowledge His handiwork in your life. This is a conscious effort that we must continually make hour-by-hour and minute-by-minute. It begins with prayer in the morning and should end with prayer in the evening. My guess is that you are currently at one point or another in this time frame. My prayer is that you will stop where you are, acknowledge the Lord for who He is, and ask Him what His will is for you this hour.