Messed Up? It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way

Have you messed up? Feeling stuck in an impossible place? It doesn’t have to be this way.

“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

Sure, we know we are to trust in the Lord. But it can be hard when we are stuck in what we feel is an impossible place. Sometimes knowing how something happens helps me to own my belief in the process. That is what today’s blog is about. HOW does God straighten our path? Well, there is no question over how capable He is … for me it has more to do with the process itself. And once again I am learning that the hangups are all on our end! God, as always, is waiting. He is right there ready to take action. We simply need to use Him!

Let’s look at this verse and break it down into three commands.

Trust.

Don’t look for your own understanding of your mishap or trial.

Lean on God and acknowledge Him.

So take a minute to look at the verse and commands backward. I consider my steps backward often. It is a great way to self-evaluate and helps me to see where I can get caught up. In this case, I love how it walks us back into HOW we can be assured of God directing our path.

First, lean on Him. This world has done a good job of teaching us to be skeptical about giving trust. Yet if we have a relationship with a person and they are deemed trustworthy, we often go ahead and lean on them for advice. When wanting to lean on anyone and especially God, we need to have a relationship. We can develop this relationship with God by giving Him our time, learning from His ways, testing our understanding of what He asks of us.

Second, acknowledge Him. As He instructs us (in the Word, through the Holy Spirit) and we test these teachings, give Him the glory when they work out. This reassures us of His place on our path. This will bring about a deeper faith, and thereby you will trust Him more deeply the next time.

Third, do not lean your own understanding. This is why I brought up testing. We can look to ourselves if we want. Our decisions will be as awesome as our flawed selves are. Hmmm … wouldn’t we rather receive the outcome from action taken from the all-powerful, unflawed, and completely loving one?

It does make sense that this process works. The key is our relationship combined with us testing what we understand from God, and by giving Him glory as we see the truths working out, see our paths straightening, and receive the fruits of this labor.

Anyone who may be struggling over some mishap or setback, anyone who feels they are simply on the wrong path — fear not! God is right there waiting to help and redirect. He wants nothing more than for you to be in such a relationship with Him that He rubs off on you. He loves seeing our gratitude for His work in our lives.

He wants us trusting Him.

Faith Infused Living… Reaching Goals Higher!

Niccie Kliegl CLC, RN

Author of Awaking the Living Legacy