Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Have you ever really wanted to know what God’s will was in a situation? I mean, you wanted to go to the right place, wanted to marry the right person, work at the right job or make a choice that could have lasting effects and you really wanted to know what God thought.
Proverb 3 5&6 is often quoted to people so that they can find the path that God wants for them, but there is a word that gets so overlooked and it is the word that God revealing his will to us hinges upon. It is the little word “all.” In “all” thy ways. So many people want to seek God for the big things, the life changing things, but the proverbs say don’t just seek God for the big things. Seeking God for the big things is good, but it is not enough. God may be merciful and show you his will for the big things, but more often than not, he shows us his will for the big things in the little things.
I like to think about Gods will like a path. There is a path that God wants, or wills, us to go down. Our life is like a old school wheelbarrow. We want our life to go down the path of God’s will. In order for our life to go down this path our wheel must be in proper working order. Each part of our wheel must be in its placed for us to go down God’s path.
There are three main parts of a wheel, the Hub, the spokes, and the rim. Each one of these parts can be used to explain a spiritual aspect of our life that must be in order to find God’s path for our life.
The Hub is the very center of the wheel. It is a relational part. all of the spokes are joined to the hub and the hub is fixed to the cart or barrow. This represents our relationship with God. It must be in alinement. We must have a clean relationship with God. we must not be living in open sin, and we must confess our faults and get back into alignment as soon as we start to slip. If we are saying, God show me who you want me to marry, but you are steeped into an adulterous relationship or are committing fornication with your phone, is God going to honor your request? I think the answer is a self-evident no.
If you are praying for God to show you if you are to move and start a church somewhere, but you are committing sins of neglect i.e. failing to pray, failing to read your Bible, Failing to ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into it, failing to go out and make disciples when possible; failing to fast as Christ commanded. God isn’t likely to answer your request. Get the sin out and get the relationship right.
Next in line we have the spokes of the wheel. There are several of these and if one is missing the wheel becomes unbalanced. I like to think of these as the know will of God. These are the things that we know God wants because he has already told us this in his Word. We need them all, without one we can get a false view of God and then end up in the ditch. These are principles to live by, and to not compromise on. The more principles that we have the closer to God’s will we can conform to.
1 – God desires every person to be saved, yet some will choose to reject him. II Peter 3:9
2 – God wants us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Romans 8:29
3 – God wants us to be thankful in every situation. I Thessalonians 5:18
4 – God doesn’t want us to live in bondage but be sanctified. I Thessalonians 4:3
5 – God desires us to live in Faith Romans 14:23
This is not an all-encompassing list, but a good start. You might find that those few things are quite difficult to do, but we have God’s strength to help us. These are broad but can be narrowed down to meet our situation. For instance, if we are seeking God’s will in buying a car – that has nothing to do with our salvation. We can be thankful for all the blessings that God has given us but we still have a need. We should drive a car that is reflective of the Character of Christ and not a car that is flashy or showy. God doesn’t want us to be in bondage so we should not go into debt or bind ourselves by this car purchase. And lastly, we need to believe that this is God’s will, if we doubt that than we should not do it because it lacks faith.
The last part of the wheel is the rem. It holds the rest of the wheel together. This symbolizes fasting and prayer to get the heart of God. When we fast, we are saying that there is something we desire more than our base necessities. In this case it is the will of God in which we desire, and God wants us to know and do his good will so he should reveal it to us. He may reveal sin that he wants us to get out of our lives, and he may reveal a part of his nature that helps us understand his plan for us. Prayer is an act of humility, we are declaring our lack. James 1:5 says:
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
We should always be seeking the wisdom of God, and he will give it – if we are not double minded. We are seeking God’s will to do it regardless of our desires.
S. T.
Acts 20:24
"But none of these things move me..."
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