Trusting God to Guide Our Path

Walking on the path of Wisdom requires trust as we learn today in the key verses of Proverbs 3:5-6. Trusting God to guide our path has been an area of spiritual growth for me and my family. Today in Proverbs 3 I'm learning that the key verse, of which I have prayed many times as a promise of God for my life, also comes with conditions. When we obey the precepts of God that we'll learn about today, we prepare the way to receive God's promise for us found in our key verse.

Here is the key verse I'm referring to:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He shall direct your paths.

~Proverbs 3:5-6

Yesterday, I introduced you to The Blessings of Walking on the Path of Wisdom. Today in Proverbs 3, we find the second blessing of walking on the path of Wisdom and that is wisdom directs your path.

There are precepts in verses 1-12 of Proverbs 3 that God has given for those of us who choose to walk on the path of Wisdom. When we obey these precepts of God for our lives, we can walk in confidence of the promise that God will guide our path.  

What are the precepts that God gives us so that we can prepare to receive and enjoy this promise of direction on the path of Wisdom for our lives?

Precepts We Must Obey to Enjoy God's Direction on the Path of Wisdom

We see in verses 1-4 the first precept which is we must learn God's truth. The only way to know the will of God for our lives is to be in His Word, study what His Word says, and obey what we have learned. When we receive God's Word into our hearts this way, He tells us that we will find favor with God and with man {verse 4}.

The second precept we must obey in order to enjoy God's direction for our path is we must obey the will of God for our lives. The only way we can enjoy the fulfillment of God's promise to direct our path is to walk obediently with God. As God grows us spiritually by revealing truths from His Holy Word, we must be certain to walk in the light that we know. This requires trust on our part as we see in our key verse, Proverbs 3:5-6 which I've listed above. We must be totally committed to trusting God with all of our hearts so that we can obey Him in all of our ways.

Warren Wiersbe tells us in "Be Skillful: God's Guidebook to Wise Living" {Proverbs Commentary}:

The word translated "trust" in verse 5 means "to lie helpless, face down." It pictures a servant waiting for the master's command in readiness to obey, or a defeated soldier yielding himself to the conquering general."

This is how I want to live my life...face down before God, ready to obey all that He commands for my life and for the lives of my loved ones. To live in complete surrender and obedience to the will of God, fully trusting God to guide our path.

The third precept we must obey if we desire for God to direct our path is to share God's blessings {verses 9-10}. Everything that we have comes from God and belongs to Him. We are just stewards for the time being. Again, trust is required as we faithfully give of our tithes and offerings to the Lord. Our faith in God and our desire to live in obedience to Him is what should lead us in our giving - not only with the giving of our money, but also in the giving of our time and talents.

In times past, I have really struggled with trusting God with our finances. This has been an area of my life that I desperately needed to surrender to God.

God heard my cry for help to trust Him in this area, as one day as I was praying, God reminded me of Matthew 6:33. To get the whole context though, I'm sharing Matthew 6:25-34.

 ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ~Matthew 6:25-34

God used this Word to speak to my heart in a personal and meaningful way that finally freed me from the fear and worry that had for so long gripped my heart. I hope it helps you too if this is an area you currently struggle with in your life.

The fourth precept is found in Proverbs 3:11-12 and that is to submit to God's chastening. It's important as children of God to understand that God's purpose in chastening us is to help us mature in Godly character {Hebrews 12:1-11}. God's discipline toward us is not as a judge who punishes a criminal, rather it is as a loving parent who disciplines their child. Just as we discipline for the good and benefit of our children, so God disciplines us so that we might become "partakers of His holiness" {Hebrews 12:10}. It's important that we discipline our children in love just as God disciplines us in love {Deuteronomy 8:2-5}.


We can be walking on the path of Wisdom, and yet not be enjoying all the blessings that God has to offer simply because we refuse to trust Him and obey what He says. These four precepts we find in today's reading of Proverbs 3 require action on our part. This action can only be led by our trust in who we know God to be. Our knowledge of who God is can only be deepened as we walk through the pages of the Bible - His Holy Word and as we experience His faithfulness in our lives. When we live in faith and obedience to God, we can enjoy the blessings of the promise the He will direct our path.

Blessings To Enjoy of the Path of Wisdom

1. True wealth that comes from wisdom {Proverbs 3:13-18}
2. Harmony with God's creation {Proverbs 3:19-20}
3. Providential protection of God {Proverbs 3:21-26}
4. Positive relationships {Proverbs 3:27-35}


I'm so glad that you have made the decision to walk through the book of Proverbs with me and the Good Morning Girls! I want all the blessings that God has for me, don't you?! I pray for us all during our time in Proverbs. May we all have hearts that are obedient and knees that are bowed down to the will of God for our lives. May trusting God to guide our path be etched within our hearts and minds so that we can enjoy all the blessings God has planned for us as we walk on the path of Wisdom!

Walking in His Grace, 

Laurie

I'm Blogging Through the Bible with Courtney Joseph and other Good Morning Girls! Click on the image below every Friday to read other posts from more sweet friends who are BTTB too!