Giving
Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.
Today start a new series titled Finding and Following God’s Guidelines.
In times like these, we are in need of God’s guidance more than ever.
Today we are talking about Trusting God’s Guidance.
Prayer
Father, we begin this new week aware that our steps may be the walk of faith or the walk of disobedience.
Help us to son commit ourselves to you that we walk in the confidence of your guidance.
Let this tie of dedication of our gifts become for us a time of new commitment to follow where you lead and to do what you ask.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
Proverbs 3:5-6 AMP
5 Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
6 In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
Scripture Reading
Proverbs 3:1-8 AMP
The Rewards of Wisdom
3 My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;
2 For length of days and years of life [worth living]
And tranquility and prosperity [the wholeness of life’s blessings] they will add to you.
3 Do not let mercy and kindness and truth leave you [instead let these qualities define you];
Bind them [securely] around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
6 In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil.
8 It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts]
And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones.
Introduction
We cannot see into the future, and without God’s wisdom we will not see the present with understanding.
At best, we expect to experience, beyond our current limited horizon, some complex and confusing turns in our paths tat will test our highest knowledge and deepest commitment.
How will we fare?
Do we have any assurance that we can safely and successfully make it to our destination?
Our text says we can make it, and victoriously if we will trust God’s guidance.
“Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].”
This is an excellent word for the year, a battle cry for testing times, a comfort and strength for our uncertainty.
It is a sufficient substitute for a road map, even though our eyes cannot discern the turns, the stops, the difficulties, or the pleasures ahead.
What does this text say to us?
- God can guide us in our everyday living.
In very decision, every action, in every development of our lives, God will direct our paths.
- The analogy of a road builder and maintenance supervisor are suggested in the word “direct”.
These assure that we travel to a desired destination as the road is built and maintained.
The Hebrew language contains several words for road or path, including words that refer to a highway, a way, a narrow path, a broad path, a trodden path, and a customary path or road.
The word in Proverbs 3:6 is the customary or usual path or road.
God relates to us as road builder and maintenance supervisor in the customary or day to day travel of our lives.
God cuts the road straight and keeps it useful.
That is what os meant by the promise, “He shall direct thy paths.”
We can get where we ought to be because God is available to prepare the way.
He is active in all our affairs.
We may not see the road builder during every kilometre travelled, but we do not move a centimetre without His help.
This analogy just does not say enough.
B. God goes with us.
The God who can guide us does, in fact, become personally involved with us on every step of our journey.
He promises, in Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you [who are willing to learn] with My eye upon you.”
In Psalm 48:14, For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide even until death.
In Isaiah 58:11, “And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”
And in John 16:13, But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future].
2. God can guide us, but three conditions determine His guidance.
A. Acknowledge Him.
First, in all ways acknowledge Him.
That is, in all steps of your journey, see that you acknowledge God as your guide.
We have likely had the experience of meeting a person on the street whom we knew well but who was preoccupied in thought or conversation and did not respond to your greeting.
We either smile and pass on by that person, speak to them again, or maybe touch them on the shoulder.
Nothing bad was intended, our acknowledgement was simply missed.
We also have experienced times when a preoccupied family member did not hear what we said, though we spoke directly to them.
If this can happen in our relationships with friends and family members, it can surely happen in God’s relationship with us.
By our preoccupation we may miss His guidance.
So if we have God’s guidance, we must pay attention to Him with the sensitivity of a faith that is alive and expectant, and not just in special moments of devotion and prayer.
We are to acknowledge Him in all our ways, in the days and the nights, at work and at play, in rest or worship, in relationships, and when we are alone.
B. Trust Him.
This brings us to the second condition of God’s guidance, “Trust the Lord with all your heart.”
We trust Him in the hours of special need when there is no one else to trust.
Or we trust Him when we are called upon to do some unique assignment with which we feel insecure.
But how about our trust level when we are aware of needs, or when the ordinary experiences of life are in progress?
Trusting God, like loving Him, must be total not partial.
We must desire to please Him totally in the ordinary experiences of every day.
C. Think of two professing Christians, both of whom affirm their faith in Jesus Christ.
One is stable and copes with changes so smoothly that to the casual observer it seems easy.
The other Christian is insecure.
Any threatened difficulty creates panic.
If the trouble is navigated at all, it is by the barest margin.
What’s the difference?
The one with unwavering faith has sought and found God’s guidance.
The other double minded persons unstable because they do not acknowledge God in all His ways.
D. Don’t depend on yourself.
These first two conditions may be labelled as positive conditions.
However, there is a third that can be labelled a negative condition, “Lean not on your own understanding.”
Do not rely on your own insight.
Don’t trust yourself.
This suggests the absolute inadequacy of life without God’s guidance.
We really can make it on our journey without Him, and some people pay an unnecessarily high price to learn that self management leads to endless defeat.
A family of faith decided not to trust God one day and leaned on their own understanding.
God promised Abraham and Sarah a child, but no child was born.
After years of waiting, Sarah, thinking she was helping God out of His dilemma of not being able to provide a child, utilised the surrogate custom of the time.
She gave her servant, Hagar, to Abraham.
From that union Ishmael was born.
In due time the child of promise, Isaac, was born to Sarah and Abraham.
Eventually hostility and jealousy between the two women and the two boys came to such a crisis that Hagar and Ishmael were sent away.
This personal hostility escalated into national hatred and religious persecution between Arabs and Jews, Muslims and Christians.
We only defeat ourselves and God’s purpose when we lean on our own understanding.
Conclusion.
God wants to give us His guidance.
He knows our need for it, He knows our failure without it.
But He likewise knows our capacity to follow His direction.
He has a unique plan for each of us, and He waits for us to pay attention to Him, to trust Him with our whole heart, to reject our own abilities to guide ourselves.
He can and will guide us when we trust Him.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
Giving
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
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