[Transcript of a midweek message published by Horley Baptist Church on YouTube[1], September 2020]
This week we think about what the writer of Proverbs was referring to when he said ‘lean not on your own understanding’.
Also, how is it possible to not worry?
Last week we were talking about certainty and can we find certainty in life and really the answer was no we can’t. Life is just too changeable, too uncertain and actually we need to learn to trust in God. I want to pick up now in this message on this idea of trusting in God.
[00:38] In Proverbs there’s one proverb which I’ve probably used before because it’s probably the only verse in Proverbs that actually I know! By the way, Proverbs is a whole list of wise sayings addressed from a father to a son and there’s one particular proverb – chapter 3 verse 5 – that says “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding”. Trust in God, trust in the Lord and lean on your own understanding. What does it mean by ‘not leaning on your own understanding’?
[01:17] Well, what I think that means when it says ‘our own understanding’ is those things in life which we feel certain about. Maybe it’s certainty about how life works, maybe it’s a certainty about how God works. Also leaning on our own understanding can mean that we base our lives on our plans and our ambitions, our aspirations. We plan what our future is going to look like. We become certain about the direction that our life is going in so when it says to trust in the Lord and lean not on our own understanding what it’s basically saying is we need to let go of those things in which we find certainty, all those things that we rely on in life.
[02:13] That’s really difficult because when we haven’t got certainty then we tend to stress and get worried, at least I do. I like to be certain, I like to know what’s happening, I like to plan and work every detail out. Only then can I feel less worried and less stressed about the future, and yet Jesus says some really extreme things about worry. In fact, He tells his followers “Don’t worry, don’t stress about the basic things of life like what you’re going to eat, what you’re going to drink, what you’re going to wear“. These things are all really important necessities in life and in many respects we don’t worry about the necessities of life because we don’t need to. We’ve got jobs, we’ve got money, we can just pop to Tescos and get whatever we want but, if COVID does teach us anything, it shows us how precarious those certainties in life are. For example, I was certain it wasn’t going to rain on this dog walk, and it is.
[03:29] Our jobs, our relationships, our futures, our aspirations, all those things upon which we build our lives in order to remove uncertainty, stress and worry. In fact, in the verses that comes a little bit before the passage in Matthew where Jesus tells us, tells his followers not to worry, Jesus says “Don’t store up your treasures on earth. Instead, store up your treasures in heaven”. So what are earthly treasures? Well it’s those things on earth where we place our importance, those things on earth upon which we build our life, those things on earth which we rely upon. That could be all sorts of things but the reality is they are subject to change, they’re subject to loss, they are ultimately uncertain regardless of how solid they may appear now. It’s just an illusion and in fact you’re building your life upon things that are going to be destroyed, things are going to rust away. Jesus says “Instead, store up your treasures in heaven” because only in heaven, it’s only in God that you can find no change. It’s only in God that you can find certainty.
[05:16] Now you may not always understand or comprehend or know what God is doing, you may not know his plans for you and actually that’s why you need to trust in Him. Trust only comes through a relationship, it only comes through knowing God and his character and that He would never let you down so if you want to trust in God then what you need to do is endeavour to seek him, to learn about him, to connect with Him. Only then does the worry-free life become a possibility.
[1] YouTube link: Can I Have Certainty in Life? (2)
Bible references: Proverbs ch 3 v5
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Contributed by Martin Shorey; © the Author
