I remember during the intro to a football game, one college team came running onto the field past a young woman holding up a sign. As each passed, they high fived the sign. It read, “Trust Yourself.” That may be good advice for a football team, not so good for those who want to please God.
In fact, it is REALLY bad advice for making our way through this life. As Christians, our sign reads differently: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.” [Proverbs 3:5-6 HCSB]
Our confidence is not in ourselves, it is in the Lord. To realize how true that statement is, all I need to do is look at the times in my life when I tried to do it my way! My path always became crooked, twisted, and usually ended at a dead end. I had to cry out to God for help, retrace my route to find where I went wrong, repent, and eventually do it His way anyway! I sure wasted a lot of effort and time thinking I knew better than God.
We are also not to lean on our own understanding, our own knowledge. Paul prayed for us in Ephesians 3. He prayed that we might be able “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that [we] may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
He went on to glorify God “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” Our understanding is so limited we can’t even IMAGINE what to ask for. We must depend upon our God to supply even our thirst for Him and all He wants to give us.
Maybe on a football field “Trust Yourself” is good counsel, but on the battlefields of life, it will only bring loss.
Lord, keep me from myself! Give me Your understanding. Amen
