One Foot in the Sand

Today’s reading is Proverbs 3.

When reading Proverbs 3:5-6, I thought of the office chair I’m sitting on. What if, halfway through bolting it together and making sure it was tight and steady, I got fed up with the whole process and stuck the rest together with Elmer’s glue. Should I really be surprised sitting on the chair and it falling apart after maybe a few seconds? No; a solid seat requires diligent work throughout the whole process. 

When reading about the blessings of the Lord bestowed upon those who follow His word in Proverbs 3 this week, verse 5 resonated with me – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” Trust requires diligent work as a whole to have any impact – does a healthy marriage sound like one where you half-trust your spouse? When we trust in the Lord with our whole and lean on His wisdom and guidance instead of our own, he provides a path through whatever life can bring for us and glory in His kingdom, while failure and shame are guaranteed for those who don’t.

John Trapp said, “He that stands with one foot on a rock and another foot upon a quicksand, will sink and perish as certainly as he that standeth with both feet on a quicksand.” I ask myself – do I lean with my whole self on God’s understanding, or am I trying in vain to balance between His and my own? What could anyone like me possibly know or do that God could not accomplish? When standing wholly in God’s word, our footing remains firm, our path remains straight, and our seat is guaranteed not to be held together by our own flimsy handiwork, but to be at the table by our Father’s side. I simply pray today that God would continue to move in me to trust in Him over myself for the blessings He affords us.