This morning’s Bible reading had me looking at the right way to make decisions. One instruction came from Solomon and the other from Jesus.
“My son, remember your father’s command, and don’t forget your mother’s teaching. 21 Remember their words always. Tie them around your neck and keep them over your heart. 22 Let this teaching lead you wherever you go. It will watch over you while you sleep. And when you wake up, it will give you good advice.
23Â Your parents give you commands and teachings that are like lights to show you the right way. This teaching corrects you and trains you to follow the path to life.” Proverbs 6:20-24 ERV
Then we have these words about Jesus.
“ Jesus said to them, ‘Why did you have to look for me? You should have known that I must be where my Father’s work is.’ 50 But they did not understand the meaning of what he said to them.
51 Jesus went with them to Nazareth and obeyed them. His mother was still thinking about all these things. 52 As Jesus grew taller, he continued to grow in wisdom. “God was pleased with him and so were the people who knew him.” Luke 2:49-52 ERV
God was pleased with Jesus. He obeyed his parents and grew in wisdom. Solomon said listen to your parents they will give you good advice.
Let me take this one step further. We, who are older, wished our children listened to our advice, but we shouldn’t forget that we are the children, and our heavenly Father has given us a whole book of good instruction.
After reading those two sections of Scripture my mind took me to these godly instructions.
“Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart. And do not rely on your own insight or understanding. 6 In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].” Proverbs 3:5-6 AMP
Confidently rely on the Lord! The One who knows the beginning from the end, the One who sees the hearts of men, the One who blessed Solomon with wisdom will direct our paths as well.
“Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 AMP
The secret is to get passed the way I think things should be done and trust that HE knows how things should be done! When our thoughts line up with His they don’t always make sense but they are successful.
It didn’t make sense for David to go at Goliath with a sling shot and some stones. It didn’t make sense for Joshua to march around the city of Jericho. It didn’t make sense for Peter to bring Jesus five loaves and two fish. It didn’t make sense for Naaman to dip in the Jordan River seven times.
Most of the time the things of God don’t make sense to our natural way of thinking but when we roll our works over on the Lord and commit to His way of thinking we will see success!
And once we’ve made the decision that He brings to our heart it’s time to rest, trust, and be at peacel.
“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.” Isaiah 26:3 AMP
“Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. 7 Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.” Philippians 4:6-7 CEV
The key to making the right decision is to make the first step one of trusting God!
