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You know the world is a bit chaotic when you walk into the health food store and the lady behind the counter says, “Everyone should be taking vitamin B right now. It’s good for stress.” I smiled, thinking she was being ironic. But she wasn’t. I guess it's pretty obvious that stress is in the air! With uncertainties abounding in our nation and communities, it’s easy to feel a bit apprehensive and stressed about the future. But while taking vitamins is a good thing, building our trust in God is even better. Here’s a verse that helps us to do it well -- let's unpack it together: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5, 6 After pondering these words for a while, I realized that my idea of this verse was somewhere along the lines of: Trust that God has everything taken care of, don’t think about it too much, be a good person, and He’ll make everything happen like he wants to. That all changed when I started looking at the deeper meaning of some of the Hebrew words, and I discovered a far more pro-active way of taking this verse to heart. Take a look: Trust: to run quickly for refuge. Heart: the center of everything. Lean: to support oneself. Understanding: wisdom, knowledge. Ways: a road, course of life. Acknowledge: to know deeply, by seeing. Direct: to be straight or even, make prosperous. The idea behind trust is not to avoid an issue or hope that it works out for the best, but to run to Jesus with your heart, leaning on Him. This proactive move counters our own understanding or intellect about a situation, instead, using it as a means to get to know God more. From that place, he’s able to go before us and create a path for us to follow. According to “Rebecca’s loose paraphrase,” this passage could read: Run quickly to God He is your refuge in difficulty Bring him your heart, the center of your being Refuse to lean on or support yourself Based on your own intellect or wisdom On every road you walk in life, Choose to know Him deeply, intimately He will go ahead of you Clearing the path for you to walk on  Sometimes when we want clarity, God wants intimacy. We want answers, but God wants us. Our journey, the challenges and blessings, is all one great call to knowing Christ deeply and doing life with him. Choosing to run to him with our hearts. Listening to his voice. Believing that he is going ahead of us to work things for our good, even when the world is a bit chaotic.
May you sense his call in each season, no matter how messy or unpredictable. Your heart is valuable… bring it to Christ, and let him prepare the path ahead as you seek to know him more. Prayer: Jesus, I run to you You are my refuge in difficulty I bring you my heart, the center of my being and all its concerns I refuse to lean on, or support myself Based on my own intellect or wisdom On every road I walk in life, I choose to know you deeply, intimately Trusting You to go ahead of me Clearing the path for me to walk on.
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