Claim a Life Verse

Somewhere back in high school I heard someone say that everyone should claim a “life verse.” That means everyone should find a verse of Scripture that becomes the central theme of your life, a verse that you memorize and think about often as you face life day by day.

For me that verse has been Proverbs 3:5-6:

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 your paths straight.

“Trust” is the foundation of any authentic relationship…parent child, husband wife, and employer with employee, friend to friend, etc.  When you lose trust, relationships die.  I have counseled many couples where the trust was broken and had to be restored.  It is hard work but that trust can be restored.

According to these verses, our assignment is to trust the Lord with all our hearts and then step out by faith. (We walk by faith and not by sight.)  Say it out loud… trust and step, trust and step, trust and step.

In your life at this very moment, what is that step for you? Where do you need to trust God more? What has God been saying to you recently?

The real issue in our relationship with Christ is always the same… “Am I willing to trust Him today for all my needs?” These verses say, “Don’t lean on your own understanding.” How often have we failed simply because we just saw the situation with our limited view and understanding? Been there; done that!

The older I get the more I realize that I really don’t know very much. I really do need God’s wisdom in every area of my life, as a Dad, a husband, a son, a brother, a minister of the Gospel. In all these relationships and more, every day I must choose to trust and step.

Have you ever rappelled? Ever done a trust fall at camp? Ever jumped off a high dive? That first step is where the faith factor enters.

Here is the point. We trust then we take the step of faith. The more we know the heart of God the more we trust and the more we trust the more we will not hesitate to take steps of faith.

When you can’t see God’s hand guiding you remember you can always trust His heart.

Am I the Pump or the Pipe?

When I get out of the way and really trust God and allow Him to work through me, and in me and in spite of me sometimes, I am the pipe. And grace naturally flows through me to other people and love flows through and affects all my relationships. The pipe never gets tired and never wears out and never gets stopped up. It’s full of living water and truth and grace and joy.

When I stop “trusting” and try to be the pump, as well as the pipe, it takes way more than I have. When I try to substitute my power or ability for God’s I become powerless, dissatisfied, frantic, impatient, defeated, and discouraged.

So today, are you the pump or the pipe? What is the next step of trust God is asking you to take?  Spend some time in prayer asking God to reveal to you the next step.

Here is the promise if we trust in the Lord with all our hearts… And “He will make your paths straight.”

When you know that you know that you know that He is directing your paths (direction and decisions in life), the steps really are not that hard to take. This is the core of discipleship…trusting and stepping.

Blessings on your journey in 2010,

Keep trusting in God and stepping forward in faith.

Mike James