Lean Not

In the Bible there are two verses with such great power and wisdom I believe we all fail miserably in understanding. 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

“A man who chooses his own path walks a wide and dangerous road indeed” -KK

From the moment we are born we learn that the sense of touch is our comfort and strength our protection. I think children are seldom taught by parents that God is far more capable than parents or people. As babies, the embrace of our mother is our comfort.

The arms of our father, shelter. Sadly, seldom—and I believe very seldom—do mothers and fathers explain to their offspring when they are old enough to understand that the parents seek their comfort and safety from God.

In one of the great tragedies of this world, those parents do not seek comfort and safety in the Lord. In my understanding, I believe the reason is that the adversary corrupts or seeks to twist the mind, causing us in our flesh to immediately begin to lean on our own understanding instead of seeking God through His Holy Word!

If I trust in the Lord with all my heart, then would I not turn to Him first even before I trust in myself? I think the process that causes our weakness begins at a very young age due to a lack of education in God and who He truly is.

The adversary seeks to corrupt the mind by twisting and confusing us that we should trust our understanding instead of the Word of God. By corrupting the mind, Satan desires to corrupt the soul, and then we do not even consider God in times of trouble or fear.

When this hardening of the heart occurs, we begin to become lovers of ourselves instead of lovers of God, and the Lord our God fades from thought. This builds a reprobate mind and separates us from God which is the goal of the adversary.

I cannot speak for any of you but I can say this: far too many times in my life when I attempted to do everything on my own and figure out things myself, I ended up doing more damage control than I did the situation any good, especially in troubling times.

I learned through experience that it was far better to stay quiet than speak and better to be still than take action in many cases. This also often led to suffering, but when I learned to trust God in all things, the one solace I had was peace because of a Lord that loves me in times of trouble.

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Mark 7:7-8

These words have brought me so much comfort and peace, I can’t even begin to describe it. Along with the verse in Hebrews, “I shall never leave you or forsake you” these are verses describing a safe haven in life’s storms: 3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

I have realized that when my only focus is to please God, then his comfort is obvious, but when I am focusing on problems, then the adversary escalates the troubles. “Trust in the Lord” is the key to peace and comfort in all things. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2

I think that focusing on our troubles and attempting to work them out ourselves is a manner of conforming to the world because our focus and direction of thought have been removed from God.

May your heart always direct your mind towards the Lord our God in all things at all times. Amen

“When I think I am unfairly hated, I remember that I am unfairly loved.”

-R.C. Sproul

Kenneth Kellar
A Man Called by God to Teach and Disciple