Straight Path

"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 3:5-6

This passage was part of my Bible reading today and it really struck me. I've heard these verses quoted numerous times and it's always a popular choice in Sunday school classes and youth groups about letting God have control of your life, but it jumped off the page at me tonight and I'm beginning to see what this truly means.

When I read the phrase, "lean not on your own understanding," I realize that I do this ALL THE TIME. I go through most days completely leaning on my own understanding and relying on my own ability to figure things out. Now, I believe God has gifted each one of us with creativity and problem solving skills that he wants us to use on a regular basis, but how many times do we make decisions and say things without even considering whether or not we are trusting in God? Let alone trusting in God with "all your heart"!?

In these verses, I particularly like the word - understanding. One of the dictionary definitions of the word understanding is: mental process of a person who comprehends. When I think about that definition and the fact that we are currently living in a small farming village on a mission base in Switzerland, I learn what it means to lean not on my own understanding. We live in a French speaking village, and we don't know French! It's normal for the temperature to be in the 30's & 40's here and we've spent the past year living in a place where people freak out when the temperature gets below 80! We've both lived in towns where there is lots to do and lots of people around and now we live in a one road village with only a couple hundred people! Leaning on my own understanding? By all logical thinking, I'd have to wonder what on earth I'm doing in Burtigny, Switzerland?

That's where the rest of the passage takes over - "in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Almost a year ago exactly, we felt God calling us to Africa. We weren't sure where we'd go in Africa, or how we would get there, or what we'd do, or who we'd go with; but we told God to stop us if he didn't want us to go. Instead of stopping us, God put us in touch with a little base in a tiny village in Switzerland that offers a six month discipleship program with 3 months of training and 3 months of outreach. Out of all the places in the world where this base could do their outreach, where do they go? Africa. So here we are, leaning not on our own understanding and acknowledging him in our ways.

Sometimes he makes your path straight down a one-road Swiss village.