June 3, 2012 ~ Trusting in the Lord

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5

Thoughts~

When I was a little girl I loved to draw hearts with crayons. You'd find me making heart flowers, heart people and valentine style hearts. As a teenager, I used hearts instead of dots for the letters i's and j's and rove my teachers nuts. In art class, when I illustrated poems, I'd always find one that had to do with hearts so I could paint hearts to go with the black ink of my words. As I got older my art style changed but my love of hearts never faded. 

And then, several years after I became a believer in Jesus, I fell in love with the verse that inspired my ministry of encouraging others by using the word of God along with images. Proverbs 3:5-6 became “my” verse and I share it with many others who call it their life verse. I call it my survival verse.

"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 verse has become so ingrained into my soul that when I'm feeling any kind of negativity I'll voice it out loud and it calms me down immediately.

When I lead women’s groups and use this verse, I have them cut out a huge heart and then list everything that fills their hearts. Faith, Family, friends, work, shopping, and even the things they are not proud of such as an addiction, lies, and deep dark sins.

Then I have them turn the heart over and tear out a small piece of it. When they turn it right side up, it shows them how we can give God a lot of our hearts but we don’t always trust Him with all of our heart.

It’s vitally important to give God ALL OF OUR HEART in order to be able to learn to lean fully on Him. As long as we think we can’t trust Him with everything, we will continue to lean on what we understand to be true.  And if you are like me, you already know that your own understanding is often muddied with emotions, exaggerations and bad decisions. I chose to lean on the only One who makes my life make sense. The Lord of my life.

Action~

Is there an area in your heart that you are not trusting God? Why do you think that is? 

God accepts us as just as we are and He does the changing from the inside out after we give our lives to Him. He knows absolutely everything that we hide from others and He still loves us the same. Why not trust Him, our awesome God of the Universe, with your entire heart. No hold outs: give Him everything and the perspective of your life will change. You will change and peace will fill your heart.

I still collect particular hearts because they are a precious, visual reminder of God's love for me and to remind me to trust Him with all my heart. Maybe you can find one that reminds you to trust the Lord with all of your heart.

Pray~

Thank You, Lord, for the unique heart you have given me.  I give you every bit of it so that I can trust you completely. I don’t want to lean on my own thoughts and plans anymore. I want to lean on You and Your word alone.

Trusting in Him,

Becky