Life is full of unknowns, and it is so important to begin by seeking out the will of God if you want to receive His blessings. You have got to get on your knees, pray, and spend time reading His Word.
Just as Proverbs 3:5–6 says…
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
The Hebrew word translated as ‘direct’ in verse 6, as well as meaning that He will show you the way to go, carries with it the idea of moving obstacles out of your way.
In other words, do not think that you are smarter than God. Do not think that your way is better. You need to do what He says. You need to do what He shows you. And when you follow His instructions, He will not only be faithful to continually guide you, He will move obstacles out of your way that you could never move on your own.
The story told in John chapter 2 illustrates this well. The obstacle? They had run out of wine. Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave some counsel to the servants at that wedding feast that we should all deeply consider.
She went to Jesus and she said in verse 3, “They have no wine.” Then she told the servants at the feast in verse 5, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” She did not say, “Whatever He says to you, think about it” or “pray about it.” No, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
Those are wise words. I want to encourage you, whatever He directs you to do, do it.
Keep reading in Proverbs 3, looking at verses 7–8…
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.
Now think about it. These verses are saying, “All right. Trust God and He’ll show you what to do. He’ll remove the obstacles. Don’t lean on your own understanding. Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Trust Him with all of your heart.”
I remember when our oldest son Harrison was seven, and I told him to bring the trash cans in. There were two of them, and he put one can inside of the other so he could make it in one trip.
He returned them to where they were stored but could not separate them. He said, “Dad, they’re stuck.” I said, “Get them unstuck.” He started pulling and jerking, but he could not get them dislodged.
I sat next to him and said, “Son, this is what you need to do to dislodge that one can from the other.” Then I explained the right way. He looked at me in all of his 7-year-old wisdom and said, “That won’t work.”
Finally, after a while of tugging, I said, “Harrison, I told you what to do. Listen to your father.” He finally and reluctantly followed my instructions, and the can popped out easily.
How often do we act like that toward God? We’re desperately trying to dislodge a problem from our lives, but it sticks, whether it’s a financial, emotional, family, or business problem. We’re tugging and tugging, and God is telling us what to do, but we refuse to listen.
Let’s say the problem is lack. We need money to pay the rent, buy fuel for our automobile, make the car payment, buy clothes for our kids, and put food on the table. All of those things cost money, and lack can be a huge hindrance.
Let’s look at God’s counsel again in Proverbs 3, verses 9–10…
Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
You may think, “Bayless, that won’t work. If I give my first and my best, I’m going to have less. That doesn’t make sense.” Stop being wise in your own eyes. Honor the Lord with your possessions, and the promise is that He will bless you.
Friend, one of the greatest reasons obstacles remain in front of God’s people and continually hinder them is that, instead of trusting the Father with all of their hearts, they lean on their own understanding.
I want to encourage you today to trust the Lord with all of your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. He will empower you. He will show you the path to go, He will remove obstacles out of the way, and He will lead you to greater blessings.
