What Happens When Certainty Has Left The Building?
As a leader and a man, I like the confidence that comes with having a plan and a degree of certainty regarding a course of action. In making decisions, I tend to rely on personal knowledge, expert opinion, and past experiences to form a reasonable plan of action. What happens when past experiences don’t inform our current circumstances? What happens when expert opinions conflict and certainty has left the building? If this sounds oddly familiar, welcome to 2020.
What do we do when we don’t know what to do? Great question. Listen to the inspired words of the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)
I love what Warren Wiersbe writes, “All the wisdom a person may acquire can never replace the need for full trust in God’s direction and guidance.” In other words, we never reach a point where trusting God requires us to not learn or change. To trust in the Lord implies more than a nod of acknowledgment to God, but the desire to understand Him better through reading His word. How in the world can we trust in the Lord, if we are not reading the Bible on a regular basis? Seriously? It is so easy to say we are trusting in the Lord, when the truth is—we are trusting more in the wisdom of Fox News, CNN, or the Wall Street Journal. To lean into the wisdom of God requires that we expose ourselves to biblical truth on a regular basis.
It is not easy to break old habits, and the default for many of us is to check the news, or social media, and rush into our day without pausing to hear from God. This reinforces the pattern of making a decision without seeking God first. We end up asking God to bless what we have already decided to do. This habit is hard to break, even for pastors. I challenge you to join me in praying the Proverbs 3:5-6 prayer on a regular basis. Write it down and put it on your computer screen. Memorize these verses.
Join me in praying;
“Lord Jesus, I choose to trust you today. Help me to not lean on my own understanding, which is lacking, but yours. I submit to you today… and commit to do the next thing that I am reasonably sure you want me to do, trusting that you will direct me today.”
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Chuck