Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3 vs.5-6
..and lean not on your own understanding
‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra is one of the most popular songs played at funerals. What a total contrast to the wisdom of Solomon enshrined in our verse this week!
As a result of the fall mankind is full of misplaced self-importance and in the last few years there seems to have been a surge in the belief that man is all knowing and all wise snd therefore capable of making wise and good decisions in spite of the fact that more often than not the evidence points clearly in the opposite direction! The result is that across the world almost everything is broken and in a mess.
Our own understanding is twisted and faulty because of sin and therefore cannot be relied upon in the key areas of why we are here and how we relate to one another and to God.
This is not to deny that because of common grace, and the fact that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, we are able to achieve much in many areas of knowledge and progress.
For example, the successful landing of ‘Perseverance’ on Mars on 18th February was a result of an incredible understanding of vast areas of knowledge. Likewise the fact that the Covid19 Vaccine was produced more quickly than any previous vaccine in history is testimony to man’s understanding, which Christians would acknowledge is God given. How is it then that man’s understanding ‘works’ in such areas but seems to fail dismally when it comes to such issues as the murder of Sarah Everard and the brutal behaviour of the military junta in Burmah?
It is that at the spiritual, moral and ethical level we are so messed up that our ‘own understanding’ is hopelessly flawed and it is only when we re-focus and ‘Trust in the Lord’ that this key area of our lives can be put back on track.
Again and again mankind has sought Utopia and it has proved illusory. But the sweep of history from Creation to the culmination of all things as recorded in the Bible tells us that Utopia (Paradise) did exist in Eden before man sinned and the closing chapters of Revelation tell us that it will be known again when every knee will bow to the name of the Lord Jesus. So there is hope. There is a solution. So let us not lose heart!
The glorious truth of these verses is that all is not lost and tomorrow we will explore how we get back on track and on Sunday what the result of that will be.