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(Presented by Lisa Bishop)
Lasting hope comes when we don’t rely on our limited knowledge and wisdom.
Our next hope builder is found in Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
When we rely on our own perspective it can be easy to lose hope. All too often I can be prone to rely on my own understanding in life. And time and time again my knowledge has been so incredibly limited. We can never see the full picture but God does and so Proverbs reminds us to seek and lean on him and not our own limited view.
So many of the things that cause us the most difficulty and heartache in life, the source of so much of our anxiety, fear, doubt, despair, is the result of leaning on our own understanding. In exercising faith — we determine to trust fully in the Lord, to ask him to help us see his ways and to acknowledge and express our gratitude to him. To trust him because we know his character. And as we trust and hope in him, he will make our paths straight.
Do you trust God? Do you measure God’s trustworthiness based on your circumstances? On whether or not things are going the way that you think they should in life?
Are you trusting in what you can see, leaning on your own limited and often flawed perception of reality? Or are you putting your confidence, hope, and trust in the unchanging character and wisdom of Jesus?
There have been times in my life where I have asked God Why are you letting this happen to me? Or, Why are you withholding this dream or desire from me? All the while, he knew if I got that thing or stayed in that relationship, it would not end well.
There have been times I have thoroughly convinced myself that I was right about something only to find out I was dead wrong. I took matters into my own hands because I did not think God cared or saw me and that led to unnecessary pain and suffering.
In Isaiah 55:9 God says, “My thoughts are higher than your thoughts, my ways are higher than your ways.”
He is saying, “Will you trust me?” “Will you put your hope in me, even when, especially when life is not making sense?”
So when life does not seem to be making sense let’s be wise, not leaning on our own understanding but acknowledging and putting our hope in Jesus.