ALIGNMENT (PROVERBS 3:5-6)


Proverbs 3:5-6
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. 

For those challenging times in our lives, whether they be earlier this year or right now, this verse has come into my line-of-sight. I am now going to dissect it so that we might gain direction for our lives before, during and after the challenges arrive.

"Trust" comes from the original Hebrew word Batach (baw-takh) which means to be confident, sure and make to hope. This kind of dependency comes from a proven history or track record with a person. In this case, the person is the Lord and the encouragement is to Be Confident in all that the Lord has done, is doing and will do for you.

The "heart" is the original Hebrew word Leb (labe) meaning all three parts of a personality - feelings, will and intellect. The phrase heart is in - "all your heart" means everything you are made-up of should "Trust in the Lord". This leaves no room for doubt or speculation. All your eggs are in His basket. All means all.

"Lean" comes from the original Hebrew word Shaan (Shaw-an) meaning to support ones self or rely on ones self. Here we are told what NOT to do. The exact opposite of what we were just told to do is - to rely fully on ourselves and cut God completely out of the picture. The Holy Spirit makes it a point to mention this through David in the next breath - that this degree of leaning should NOT rule how you understand matters.

"Understanding" comes from the original Hebrew word Biynah (bee-naw) meaning knowledge and wisdom attained; also the way one thinks; the way one processes information. So, not only are our ways, what we have already learned, to be subject to Him, but our very thought processes should change to reflect His. As it says in Isaiah 55:9, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." 

"Ways" comes from the original Hebrew word Derek (deh-rek) meaning a course of life or custom. Notice that for the second time we have a prepositional phrase - "in all your ways". The teaching on "all" applies here once again. So, God desires to be a part of everything you consider customary, normal or part of everyday life.

"Sumbit" means to link by way of acknowledging someone else's strategy is superior than yours and including that someone in your plans (in this case, "Ways"). Yielding. Original Hebrew word is Yada (yaw-dah). Be careful the next time you say, "And yada, yada, yada." In Hebrew, it means you are yielding, yielding, yielding. It is the kind of yield that scrubs All that you might have planned then acknowledges and replaces your own plan with God's because you realize He was not in your Planning Meeting in the beginning.

So, if you....

  1. Trust in the Lord with all your heart
  2. Lean not on your own understanding
  3. In all your ways submit to Him
"He will make your paths straight." This implies that your paths were crooked or needed God's input at some point. As said before, better to have God included at the onset for a straighter path. God does the straightening. It is hard sometimes to wait upon the Lord during this straightening period, but His timing is perfect. The Holy Spirit stated through Paul,  "But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son..." (Galatians 4:4-7). This was not a split second to early or a breath to late - He was right on time. God was right on time for His Son, He will be right on time for His sons and daughters adopted through Christ Jesus. 

So, be confident in the Lord's track record with every fiber of your being. Do not rely solely on your customs and thinking but include God from the beginning of each day with all your plans and nuances submitted to Him. With this done, God will make sure your direction lines-up with where He wants you to be. (Pritchard Paraphrase of Proverbs 3:5-6)

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