1. INTRODUCTION
Even those who claim to be “Born Again” are not necessarily firmly grounded in the truths of the Bible. In his book What Americans Believe which provides a statistical analysis of religious beliefs in America, George Barna cites several fascinating statistics which are based on a national survey. One of the questions states, “The Devil, or Satan, is not a living being but is a symbol of evil. Do you agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly with that statement?” The Born Again population reply with 32 percent agreeing strongly, 11 percent agreeing somewhat and 5 percent did not know. Thus, of the total number responding, 48 percent either agreed that Satan is only symbolic or did not know!
His next question, “Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others all pray to the same God, even though they use different names for that God.” Again, the respondents were asked to agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat or disagree strongly. Of that population surveyed who identified themselves as Born Again, 30 percent agreed strongly, 18 percent agreed somewhat and 12 percent did not know. That is a total of 60 percent!
Now, let me make a survey for this congregation:
(a) Who among you believe that we, as Christians, should trust God? (Many will surely raise their hands in confidence.)
(b) Who among you believe that by trusting God, we cannot fall astray? (Like the first question, many will surely raise their hands in confidence again.)
(c) When was the last time that you trusted God? (This time, I believe will be different.)
Trusting God, I suppose, is one of the things Christians should be conscious of always. The Bible is clearly exhorting us to trust God in every step we will take – be it concerning our family, work, ministry, studies, etc. However, despite the call to trust God in all aspects of our lives, the truth remains that most of the time we do not trust God, at least in an unconscious manner. Often, we are caught not trusting God, not because we do not want to put our trust in Him, but because we tend to forget trusting him. Simply put, trusting God is not really our way of life.
By nature, it is very hard for us humans to trust other people. We would rather choose to work alone than work with others, especially if we have the means and capability to accomplish a task. Notice that in commercial basketball league like the NBA, coaches are inclined to underscore “teamwork” during timeouts. That in order for them to win a game, they must learn to trust their teammates that they, too, can deliver. But somehow, despite the consistent reminders, trusting others seemed to be a difficult thing to do. It is actually better said than done.
Our text is actually talking about the benefits of wisdom to us. Wisdom, in general, is the discipline of applying truth to one’s life in the light of experience. Proverbial wisdom, in particular, concentrates mostly on practical attitudes. The wise man who wrote this proverb is exhorting us to trust God and keep it as a practical attitude, as our way of life. And the benefit…God will make our paths straight.
2. OUTLINE
2.1 When you trust God, trust him completely (v 5)
q Trusting God requires a whole heart.
I remember last Tuesday morning while waiting for a transportation, I specifically asked God for a particular bus since with it I would have a good chance of coming to office earlier. Immediately after that prayer, a cab going to Manila stopped before me. I was thinking if I would take it since I actually prayed to God for a bus. I knew in my heart it was coming. I checked if there would be a bus coming but there was none. I said to myself, “Maybe God would not grant my prayers.” Afraid that I would be late again, although hesitant, I finally decided to take the cab. Very soon after I took the cab, a bus came. To make the long story short, I arrived at the office at 10:15, 1 hour and 15 minutes later than my boss. I believe, if only I learned to fully trust God that day, I would not had been late.
Many times we express our trust to the Lord just to end up trusting him halfheartedly. With this kind of halfhearted trust we cannot expect things to be better because in reality we are unconsciously proclaiming that we do not trust him, but ourselves. And by trusting ourselves, we are actually tying his hands from working in us.
Jungle people also have wisdom. In an interview with an African Safari guide, he was asked, “Is it true that jungle animals won’t harm you if you carry a torch?” The guide replied, “That depends on how fast you carry it.” Somehow, we can identify with the guide in relation to our Christian walk. We know that God is always in control of everything regardless of how big and heavy the obstacles. Look at the wall, it reads, “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing that my God cannot do.” You know this declaration, aren’t you? Yet when problem comes, we easily falter. Why? Simply, because we do not trust God completely.
While it is true that all things work together for the good of those who love him and those who are called according to his purpose (Rom. 8.28), let us remember that God’s best can be achieved only in an environment where he is free to work for our best – an environment characterized by a trust that is full and complete, a trust that rules out reliance upon sight and circumstances.
q Trusting him completely is totally embracing what God is saying to us.
When I asked God that morning for a bus, I believe he spoke to my heart that he would be going to provide for it. But because I relied to my self, I was not able to believe that he would do it for me. My experience was just a typical representation of many Christians. The Bible has all the promises and assurances that God will always protect us and provide us with all our needs, and yet we find ourselves in complete desolation. Why? Simply because we do not embrace what God is saying to us.
I remember the miseries Jacob experienced almost throughout his life. Since his birth he tried to accomplish God’s purpose through his own strength. Although God’s promise to Abraham of becoming a great nation was destined to be fulfilled through Jacob (Gen. 25.23; 26.24), Jacob never really had a peaceful life not until he wrestled with God and eventually surrendered himself. It was only then that the promise of God worked for him, only after he chose to embrace what God was saying to him.
Personally, I experienced the same as Jacob’s experience. I do believe that God had been calling me to fulltime ministry ever since I surrendered my life to Him. But because I knew how hard the life of a pastor is in terms of financial reward, especially if you have a family, I opted to yield not. I knew God would provide but I could not embrace what he was saying to me. I thought I have surrendered all to him but I was wrong. I never really learned trusting God until I finally learned how to trust him – to embrace what he was saying to me.
Do you experience a life full of misery? Try embracing what God is saying to you and you will experience a life full of God’s comfort and peace.
q Trusting him completely is acting upon the word of God and assuming it to be true regardless of what sight is saying.
This is what “Lean not on your own understanding” means. Many times we do not realize the promises of God because we are hindered by what we see and we allow these “realities” to stop us from trusting him completely.
I remember one story about Mary (again). On a cold, stormy night, the telephone rang in the home of a doctor. Mary identified herself and said that her husband needed urgent medical attention. The doctor gave her some advises and Mary agreed to do it. Likewise, the doctor was understanding and said that he was willing to come and attend to his needs, but explained that his car was being repaired and asked Mary to pick him up. Mary angrily responded, “What! With this kind of weather?”
Mary trusted the doctor wholeheartedly, that is why he called him. She embraced what the doctor said, that is why she followed the instructions to her. But she could not act on the request of the doctor because she knew how dangerous to go against the storm. Sometimes, we are like Mary. We want God to work out things for us but we, ourselves, do not want to work. Trusting God completely requires action regardless of our situation, regardless of what we see.
Jeremiah 9.23,24 says,
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boast, boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.”
Meaning to say, God is able. Yet we cannot act and assume that his words to us are true.
2.2 When you trust God, allow him to fill every area of your life (v 6)
q In all your ways acknowledge him…
In 1 Chronicles 28.9, David said to Solomon,
“And you my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”
Proverbs 16.3
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.”
Our relationship with the Lord is exemplified in the Bible as husband and wife. As a husband or a wife, would you be happy to know that your spouse does not consider you in rendering a decision, or does not think of you regularly, or to put it blatant not trusting you that is why he or she does not want to communicate with you?
Let me tell you this story of a husband and wife. A man looked up from his hospital bed and said to his wife, “You’ve always been with me when I have had trouble. When I lost my shirt in a poor investment, you were there. When I had the car accident, you were with me. When I got fired, you were there. I realized that in all these misfortunes, you were there. Now I believe what my friends were saying, that you are a bad luck.
As a husband or a wife, trusting your spouse should not be obligated but should come naturally. The same applies with our relationship with the Lord. Acknowledging God in all our ways requires entrusting to him our whole being, including our families, living standard, decisions and everything in daily basis. It requires making “Trusting God” as a part of our daily living. It should be our way of life. Trusting God should be a major component of our life that when it is lost, we become incomplete. Trusting God should not be an option. On the other hand, being Christians, it should be an instinct to us - that we always think of him and trust him. We should not trust him during difficult times only, not even during happy times but every time. We must be conscious of it.
3. APPLICATION
In the brief but significant conversation recorded between Jesus and Pontius Pilate, we read of Pilate asking Jesus, “Are you a king?” We can well imagine a sardonic grin planted on the face of this puppet in the hands of Caesar, inquiring into the kingship of this Jewish carpenter. Jesus responded by questioning Pilate’s question, asking, in essence, “Are you asking this on your own or has someone else set you up?” This method of questioning the question was repeatedly used by Jesus with very good reason because it compelled the questioner to open up within his own assumptions.
Pilate was somewhat exasperated by this seeming insolence. “Look,” he answered, “I did not bring you here—your own people have done that.” Then Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest. But now my kingdom is from another.”
Pilate said, “Ah! So you are a king.” The response of Jesus discloses Pilate’s real predicament. “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me,”
The answer is both subtle and daring. The fundamental problem Jesus was exposing to Pilate and to the world is not the paucity of available truth; it is more often the hypocrisy of our search. Truthfulness in the heart, said Jesus, precedes truth in the objective realm. Intent is prior to content. The most provocative statement Jesus made during that penetrating conversation was that the truthfulness or falsity of an individual’s heart was revealed by that person’s response to Him. The implication reveals more about you than it does about Him.
Pilate served as a perfect illustration of Jesus’ point. He muttered, “What is truth?” and never waited for the answer. I suspect he knew the answer but was a power-seeking slave to the system and to his own political ambition. Pilate really desired no solution—he merely sought an escape (see John 18:28-19:16).
In relation to us, let us pray that Christ will find us true to what we are professing; that he will find us trusting fully when we say that we trust him; that he will find our way of life dependent in trusting him. Likewise, let us pray that when someone asks us if trusting him should be a way of life for Christians, may Jesus find us voting “strongly agree.”
