Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil (Proverbs 3:5-7).
The first installment in the continuing series, Why should I put my trust in God to solve my problems, focused on the concept that God knows what trials and difficulties we face and how they will end according to the choices we make. The second installment focused on how God is aware of the pitfalls and traps that await us on any path we choose when we are confronted with difficulties. As we continue this series, this post will focus on one of the things that God tells us specifically not to do when we are faced with trials, tribulations, and difficulties.
Why should I put my trust in God to solve my problems?
Our own plans and schemes to get out or avoid difficulties have roots deeply embedded in our sinful nature.
Back when I was a graduate student at Southern Illinois University I lived in an area called Southern Hills. It was university provided housing for single and married graduate students. I had a next door neighbor that was a Church of the Nazarine member; he and I frequently had philosophical and doctrinal debates over just about every aspect of Christianity. One particular afternoon, as he and I began talking about faith, he commented that God had opened a door for him and had allowed his loan to be approved – he went to one of those title loan places and borrowed $500.00 against his car – that he had owned and was clear of any other liens.
About two months into his payment plan, he lost his assistantship and could no longer afford his payment plan. His car, a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee Sport, was repossessed for a balance he owed of around $300. Although the car’s value was well above what was actually owed, he had no other choice but to surrender the car. Just like my neighbor, we have a tendency to see our difficulties, our trials, and our tribulations through world-focused vision. Having world-focused vision means that too often our “solutions” are also world focused. We devise plans and scenarios that we believe will help solve our problems that fail and cause us to become discouraged. Our solutions can also put us in a predicament where God cannot bless us until we have repented of our own selfish plans.
God dealt with the children of Israel with this very thing – trying fleshly solutions to problems – as he was leading them out of Egypt. Here God had worked a tremendous victory and had delivered them from the bonds of slavery out of Egypt. He fed them manna from Heaven and provided water for them to drink. While waiting for Moses to return from the top of Mount Sinai, they became concerned and demanded that an idol be made for them to voice their prayers. They believed that Moses was no longer alive; rather than seek God’s will, they decided to rely on their own understanding of the nature of God (Exodus 32:1-4). Knowing that man is tempted to understand trials, tribulations, and even blessings through explanations of the flesh, God includes in the Torah a reminder that Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes (Deuteronomy 12:8).
As children of God, when we rely on our own understanding of our trials and difficulties rather than trusting in God, we remove ourselves from God’s protection We no longer see objectively or clearly and become weighted down by the desires of the flesh (Proverbs 30:12). The Bible is filled with stories, both Old and New Testaments, where God’s people have chosen thier own solutions to problems they faced and had to deal with the repercussions of thier decisions. Abraham lied about his wife, Sarah being his sister; Peter denied Christ three times rather than admit he was a disciple when challenged – are just two of the many stories we see preserved within the pages of the Bible.
The choices made by the Abraham, the High Priest Eli, David, Peter, and even back at the beginning with Abraham to rely on their own undersanding of the difficulties and trials they faced brought them to the point that the prophet Jeremiah recorded as God explained Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up… I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity (Jeremiah 18:15-17). God cannot look upon our sin of disobedience and protect us as he does when we are living according to his plan (Proverbs 2:6-9)
God calls us to reject the path that the flesh and world would have us to follow. Instead, he calls us to follow the path he has set before us; David, the author of the Psalms tells us that God wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Psalms 16:11). This path brings us beyond death and into life everlasting and it will bring us great joy in the end.
