Lean Not

I was reading Proverbs this morning and I felt like the Lord was speaking to me through His Word.  I have been struggling lately about some things and I don’t seem to be able to come up with the why of it all.  Some people never seem to question the Lord; they just seem to go with the flow.  I seem to be just the opposite; I question the Lord many times, I guess I am like a child that seems to pester their parents with all kinds of questions, some children more than others do this.  

My problem is this, if it is a problem; I want to know why some of the things I pray for, many times, don’t happen and where is He when I am seeking Him in prayer, when it seems like I am not breaking through even when I pray what His Word says, which has to be His will.  I know about selfish prayers and unconfessed sin in your life and the lack of faith when you pray, I think we all are guilty of these things at times, but I don’t think that is my problem.  

I think most believers know what 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  I tend to keep short accounts with God when it comes to sin, not holding on to the sin or offence very long before confessing and repenting because of them.  I have had such a close relationship with the Lord at times that I thought I was one of His most special kids.  He has healed me miraculously from years of asthma and has delivered me from alcohol, cigarettes and drugs and the party lifestyle in what seemed like no time at all.  I have seen many prayers answered over the years and experienced many conversions that He used me to accomplish, praise His holy name.  He has spoken to me directly in my mind on more than one occasion and He has blessed me and my family multitudes of times.  I have seen and experienced things in prayer and He has taught me many things over the years and given me discernment.  He has excited my heart and given me a heart of praise and adoration and thanksgiving for Him beyond what I can explain.

But for a while now, it seems like I don’t know what has happened to Him.  So of course I have questions, but I haven’t seemed to get any answers for them lately until this morning, then it seemed like He spoke to me through His Word.  The strange thing is, these are very familiar verses, ones that I have memorized along with many other believers I am sure, but this morning they seemed to stop me in my tracks, so to speak.  Sometimes the Lord will use the simplest things to speak to a person and this was not the ordinary answers you usually hear like there is unconfessed sin in your life or you do not have enough faith or you have been neglecting the Lord.  But that wasn’t it at all, it was this in Proverbs 3:5-6, “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.”

How many times do we lean on our own understanding, thinking we know how things should work out or how the Lord should work them out?  Sometimes we think we know what is best for our lives even when we know the verse that says this in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Let me say this, there is nothing wrong with asking questions, after all who is the best one to go to when you need a question answered?  The Lord of course!  Read what it says in Matthew 7:7-11, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

So if you are struggling with anything or you just need wisdom for a problem you are facing, no matter how big or small, ask the Lord and keep asking until the answer comes and don’t give up.  It may take time but never give up just hang in there.  Something to think about!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super blessed day!!