“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
Being confined within our homes during this COVID-19 pandemic ‘lockdown’ period has raised many questions about life. Life is described as a journey from the day we are born to the day we leave this earth. Just like any journey, the road is straight, has sharp bends, hilly, flat, etc.
It reminded me when Lisha and I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary and we decided to spend the weekend at Drakensberg Gardens Resort. This was our very first trip to this resort and we were told that the trip would take over 2 hours from Pietermaritzburg. Check in time was 14h00 so we decided to leave Pietermaritzburg around lunch time. The weather was fabulous with the sun basking down on us and blue skies.
The journey was excellent as we travelled on the National Route 3 and then turned into a Provincial Road which led us to a little town called Underberg. The journey was great with the roads being straight, widening, up-hills, down-hills, some congestion, sitting for kilometres behind heavy freight vehicles and we enjoyed the drive as we chatted along the route. Once we passed Underberg we had to turn right towards our destination which was just 30km away. The first kilometre of the road was tarred and thereafter the route was a narrow two-way gravel road with farmlands on both sides.
The farmsteads were quite massive so there was very few houses or life around. As we travelled along this narrow gravel road which had many tight bends and hills with no life or vehicles passing us. As we journeyed I began to get worried, anxious and started panicking because the road just went on and on with no life. I started sweating even though the air-conditioner was on, I spoke less and less to Lisha, who was quite comfortable. The weather starting changing with dark rain clouds moving in, and this made me more scared and nervous. I tried to drive as fast as I could but because of the terrain of the road and the road being gravel, the maximum comfortable speed I could achieve was about 30km/hr. This was agonising as the journey became longer. I started panicking, my heart started to beat faster and louder, I began sweating and I started to worry. To pacify me, there were signposts at very long intervals that showed we were on the right road. After an agonising hour of driving which seemed like eternity we reached our destination safe and sound.
This episode in my life (and there were many more such travels), reminded me that life is a journey with lots of twists and turns. I also realised that life has many uncertainties just like our journey today travelling through this pandemic and this global lockdown period. Lots of uncertainties, questions, panic, fear, etc. Navigating through this journey as Christians we feel a disconnect between God and reality. We know we are supposed to trust God but it seems that we trust Him on Sunday but on Monday we look to the world and to reality for answers. We are all guilty of this because somewhere along life’s journey someone let us down that we trusted wholeheartedly; maybe a friend, family member, colleague, spouse, child, lover, pastor, someone we respected and looked up to. Due to this disappointment, we tend to trust no one but ourselves.
The book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom, a book of how to live life skilfully and with wisdom. This book was written by the world’s wisest and wealthiest man, King Solomon. He writes about living a Godly life in an ungodly world. It is a book that provides God’s detailed instructions for His people to deal successfully with the practical affairs of everyday life: how to relate with God, parents, children, neighbours, governments and in crisis like the one we face now?
What does Solomon say, He says in Prov. 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (NKJV). In other words, do not try to figure things out on your own, and he further says that God will make our paths straight. He further states in: Prov. 1:33 “But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.” (NLT). This is something we all want today in this lockdown period, peace and to be untroubled by this virus and what is to come post-lockdown. Wisdom will make us live in peace and untroubled by the corona virus and the rest of our journey through.
From this text we can glean three ways to live our lives wisely and enjoy peace and be untroubled:
- TRUST GOD ENTIRELY
- What we trust is where we go first
- TRUST GOD ULTIMATELY
Prov. 3:6“In all your ways acknowledge Him..”
- Acknowledge means “yada” to know or recognise. It further means to know His ways inside and out and to recognize that He is the ultimate arbiter of our lives.
- God wants to be involved in the details of your lives, IN ALL YOUR AFFAIRS
- How do we consult God?
- In prayer
- Word
- TRUST GOD PROGRESSIVELY
Prov. 3:6“, And He shall direct your paths.” (NKJV)
- God says I make your path straight and move the boulders, obstacles from the way
- Just Trust Him. Let it go. You cannot control things but you can surrender to Him and let it go
- God says if you let it go, you can have your life back
PRAYER:Lord, I recognise the importance of trusting you completely and to reverse the order in my life and that is to go to you first in all things. I put you first and in this lockdown I will not fear, panic or be full of anxiety of the future because You will make my paths straight and I will reach my destination in Jesus name. Help me to trust you with all my heart and to not lean on my own understanding, in all my ways to acknowledge You and You will make my paths straight. Amen.