What does it take to walk with God?
Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart” – this could be the most difficult thing to do on a consistent, day-in, day-out basis – and it’s more than it appears on the surface. This requires trusting that the LORD’s will and His glory are the ultimate end-game, motivated by love and his desire for us to become more like Christ. This motivation, this desire for our Christlikeness, is only part of the equation for His directing – making straight, leading, making smooth – our path – our way of life, way of living.
The equally important half of the equation is that we are to acknowledge Him in all our ways – our path, direction, manners, way of living, and moral character. Acknowledging Him is more than giving lip service. This word means to know by experience, to perceive, to recognize. Our life (“way”) should be such that other people can perceive, experience, and know God by experiencing Him – his characteristics, his attributes – in our lives.
The marriage of these two parts of the equation put us in a place to walk in the paths God has directed – made straight and smooth. Our failure is engaging our own minds and our own understanding when:
1) … things are going well – thinking we had anything to do with it.. It might be intentional, it might be subconsciously, but we begin to tell God, “thanks, but I’ve got this…” and lean on our own understanding.
2) … thing aren’t going well. We start trying to understand why. Instead we need to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart…” God has a plan. God loves us enough to allow circumstances that aren’t pleasant. Think of Jonah. God had to get through to Jonah – and he was willing put all the other men on the same boat as Jonah in jeopardy as he brought the storms on Jonah.
Walking with God doesn’t mean level paths and flowers. Sometimes it can be a difficult and seemingly dangerous journey – but as we learn to trust him with ALL our heart, we aren’t moved or intimidated by our surrounding circumstances.