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What Does God Want Me To Do?
Proverbs 3:5-6
So you’re trying to figure out what comes next. What path to take, how your life should go. And you’re stressed and you’re asking God for guidance.
I often have conversations with young people trying to figure out their lives, and sometimes they are just paralyzed because what does God want me to do? And we’ll talk about Proverbs 3:5-6.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
And what I’ve found is that often when people talk about Proverbs 3:5-6, that trust in the Lord with all of your heart, we tend to think about that verse like I’m trusting God to help me figure out exactly the right path. I’m trusting God to help me make the perfect choice. And sometimes that sense of being paralyzed comes when we’re waiting and thinking, I don’t know. God hasn’t made it clear to me yet. I’m not sure exactly what I am supposed to do.
So then what ends up happening in our conversation is we start talking more about, okay, let’s look exactly at what this says. When it says trust in the Lord, the idea of trust is that it’s of something or someone you go to as a refuge, as a protection. And so trust in the Lord here, go to him as your protection, not your understanding. You’re not going to trust in or find your security in whether or not you get how this is all going to work out. You’re not going to find security in okay, now I know exactly the right choice. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways, acknowledge him and in the original language it says to know him and he will make your path straight.
It’s not about asking God to help you know the perfect path. It’s about knowing him who makes your paths straight. And if you think about it, that’s how our relationship with God really works. It’s not that God gives you the ability to figure out how to be good enough for him. You and I can’t. It’s about him being good enough for us. It’s about God the Son who became human to live the life you and I were meant to live. It’s about his death for your sins and mine and his resurrection to give us new life. And now, through the faith of the Holy Spirit has given us we do get the partner with God. But God never says, okay, now I need you. I’m going to help you figure out how to fix it all. We just simply get to be part of his plan. We get to receive life from him. Live life with him. Walk with him and know him. It’s not about you or I figuring out or asking God, okay, help me to know all the things. Rather, we get to know the one who does. He will make your path straight.
