Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Pr 3:5-6)
A great and famous passage and rightly so. I want to focus on “lean not on your own understanding.” This is a continual temptation for me, Lord. Help me always to remember that your thoughts are so high and your understanding so vast it is folly for me to rely on my own intellect to guide me. I want to use the gifts you have given me, but always with a heart that is devoted to you and ears tuned to hear your voice.
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We're looking at Joshua 6 this week and discussing the notion of obeying God's outrageous demands. For me, the puzzling part of this, and of your post, is being absolutely sure that I know the source of the direction I'm getting.
ReplyDeleteThere have been a lot of really nasty things done by people who claimed, "God told me to do it." God gave us a brain for just this reason, so that we could make decisions about what actions are reasonable. We need to use it!
Of course, we need to never decide we know better than God, but we must first be sure it's God speaking!
I understand what you're saying. If I felt God nudging me to march around Jericho for seven days, I think I'd have a hard time deciding that was really the voice of God. Of course, Scripture is a filter on our "leadings". If it violates any of God's commandments then it's clear we aren't being led to do it.
ReplyDeleteMore than that, though, I've always had the idea that the more we get used to hearing God's voice the better we will recognize it. If we are well-practiced in obeying his more quotidian leadings we will be better prepared to step out in faith when he asks us to do something unusual or significant. I always imagine that when we read stories like Joshua 6 in the Bible, that moment was preceded by a lifetime of Joshua's careful obedience to the Lord.
What I take away from that thought is the conviction that I need a lot more practice at listening for God's voice and being obedient to it. I hope someday the training wheels will come off and I can truly walk in faith and obedience.