Trusting in the Lord with all our heart is critical because we like to hold some things back from God. We like to hold back some of our fleshly desires. We like to hold back our secret sins. We have some Christians only partially invested in the kingdom. Sunday morning Christians whose faith falters the other six days of the week because church is largely a social exercise for them. We have purpose driven Christians whose faith is built upon serving in ministry and their service assists them in turning a blind eye towards the sins they still harbor in their lives. There are any number of partially invested Christians who sometimes take the right path at the fork in their road and other times they do not. Then we wonder why we never seem to be able to find victory over the strongholds we face. Or why the enemy seems to have a field day with us. There is power for the lives of believers but it lies down the narrow path that leads to life - not the broad path that leads to destruction. The is limited power available for limited Christians.
The second part of this recipe is that we cannot lean on our own understanding. Logically this goes hand in hand with trusting the Lord. Every decision has only two options for us to choose from - what we want to do and what God wants us to do. Like we have to face down the heart within us, we often have to fight against our mind. We like to think that we know it all far too much. We treat God like He is in the advisement business instead of the Lordship business. We face the fork in the road and we rationalize it. We bargain with it. We rely on our own resources, wisdom and logic. If that is not enough we turn to worldly experts in psychology, medicine, or any other number of earthly disciplines. We may eventually turn to the church but even then we are still hoping for something that will agree with our own understanding. Sometimes we trump doctrine up into this deeply spiritual and complicated matter when the truth is we know the right answer all along. We know the right path to take but we simply do not want to take it! Do we realize the God we serve does not think as we do?
"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And my ways are far b eyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts , - Isaiah 55: 8-9 (NLT)
Yet so often we still think we know better. Or that we simply disagree with God. He is never mocked however and we always reap what we sow. If we sow to the Spirit of God inside of us we will reap righteousness and blessing. If we sow to the flesh we will reap the heartache of this world. These two precepts go hand in hand beloved. We cannot say that we truly trust God if we constantly lean on our own understanding. As mentioned, it is about Lordship; a concept that is sparingly preached anymore. Yes God wants to be friends with us but not friends as we think here on earth. Lordship must always come first. As Lord - He gets to decide the path we take. This should be a source of great comfort but our flesh and pride makes it a point of great contention.
The concept of Lordship is summed up in the third part of the recipe from the key verses. In all our ways we are to submit to Him. The first part to consider is that God expects to be Lord of our lives in totality. In all of our ways. Not some of our ways. Not just for the ways we already agree upon. Not just for the ways that make us feel all warm and comfy. All of our ways. Solomon was considered the wisest man who ever lived and in the majority of his ways he had God as Lord. Unfortunately however, not in every way.
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh's daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, "You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.' Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord. - 1Kings 11: 1-3 (NLT)
I want us to focus on the phrase - "Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway." this really cuts to the heart of the issue. We claim to want to seek the will of God so often yet remain so willfully disobedient in many areas of our lives. If we were to be honest, we simply insist on having it our way. We insist on being disobedient. Just as the Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel He has likewise instructed us as well through His Word. Do not let any preacher downgrade any portion of God's Holy Word. The do's and the don't's are vitally important for us. Jesus did not die so we could have it our way but to show us that He is the only way. We cannot allow anyone to cheapen the grace He died for by pretending how we live out this life makes no difference to Him. Beloved, I understand that it will always be difficult to consider His Lordship in every decision we make. We ought to be striving though. I have seen people taking the wrong path at the fork in the road and watched it destroy their lives.
The second part of this point is the word "submit." I think sometimes we "consider" the Lord in all of our ways but not actually submit. The word submit means to yield our power and authority to Him. I know that is a difficult thing to do because we are such prideful creatures and because the world works on the opposite system. It is simply not enough to merely consider what God has to say. The friend of God theology however reinforces this notion that God is just your buddy there to give profound advice. He is supposed to be our Lord, ruling over our lives with all power and authority. There is a popular Christian song called "Jesus Take the Wheel", which should serve as a reminder that we are not supposed to be driving to begin with. If Jesus is your co-pilot then you are in the wrong seat! Do not listen to the do-it-yourself world and the false preachers selling a gospel of self help. If we could help ourselves then we wouldn't need a Savior!
