I recently got re-blessed by this verse…
Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
I say āre-blessedā because scriptures can bless us multiple times and for multiple reasons. We may read a scripture that weāve read many times. and see something new that helps us that we hadnāt seen before. Thatās how magnificent the Bible is!
This verse is probably familiar to a lot of us. But what happens sometimes, is that we might pay less attention to it because it is very familiar to us. That is human nature. For example, I have a motivational sticker on my dresser mirror. When I first put it there, I looked at it every day. But after a while I didnāt notice it as often. And most recently, I thought, āwhatever happened to that sticker?ā So, I went into the bedroom to check, and sure enough it was still on the mirror where it had always been. My brain had just quit acknowledging it.
We may observe this effect in a myriad of circumstances. For instance, something may be out of place or broken in our house. If it is not remedied, over time it can become part of our familiar surroundings, and we donāt notice it anymore.
Here is another example. They recently tore down a building in our town. It was a building that we passed by regularly. But when we drove by after it had been demolished, I honestly could not remember what had been there. I had seen the building many times, but my brain had not fully registered it.
Familiarity can be a good thing. For instance, driving a car. Those of us who have been driving for a long time donāt need to consciously remind ourselves to hit the brakes when we want to stop. Itās a familiar action that happens without a lengthy thought process. Habit, if you will. Also consider this. Have you ever been driving and got lost in thought, then suddenly realize that you donāt know how you got where you are? This happens when we are familiar enough with the mechanics of driving that we can drive without paying close attention to all our surroundings. Our brains will still register the necessary information, but not necessarily the extended view.
Experience comes from being familiar with information and actions. An experienced employee is valued because they have a wealth of information, and they know what needs to be done and how to do it. They are familiar or well versed in the scope of their job. Experienced athletes are familiar with the demands of their sport. There is no time in a competition for them to stop and figure out what they need to do. They must be very familiar with the physical actions required and the rules of the game so they can react quickly. Athletes practice to gain this familiarity.
Being familiar with the Bible is a wonderful asset to our lives. The Bible has the answers to all that we need to know. It teaches us about God and His son Jesus Christ. And it shows us how to live life. It is The Word of God, and it is perfect. The more familiar we are with the scriptures, the more answers we will know.
What can happen, however, is that we, who consider ourselves students of the Bible, can become so familiar with the scriptures that we donāt always pay enough attention to them. Maybe we read our Bibles every day, but if weāre not careful, we may find ourselves just going through the motions. I like to listen to Bible teachings online. But sometimes, I find myself thinking about any number of other things except what Iām hearing. This can stem from being so familiar with the content that we take it for granted, and/or our brainās natural tendency of wandering aimlessly!
It behooves us to grab our minds and make them track with the information of Godās Word. Which brings me back to the opening scripture:
Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
The first time I read this verse; it encouraged me so much. It became my go-to verse. I memorized it. I repeated it to myself often. And it blessed and helped me. Then, after a while, I moved on to another verse. Iām not saying thatās a bad thing, itās actually the way the Bible is supposed to work. Our needs change and other verses might better address our new needs. So, we pick new go-to verses. Itās an ongoing process. But the great thing is that during this process, we often circle back to previous verses and get re-blessed by them. That is exactly what happened to me with this verse.
When I read this verse recently, it spoke very loudly to me again. I realized that I was spending a great deal of time and effort trying to solve my problem myself. I was dwelling on the problem, analyzing everything that I could do to fix it, and not including God in any of my thinking. Then it was almost like this verse was in bold print in my Bible. āTrust in the LORD with all thine heartā. I wasnāt doing that. I was doing the second part of the verse, āleaning unto my own understandingā. I just forgot the critical word āNOTā in that part of the verse.
So, I circled back to this verse as my go-to verse and I repeat it to myself frequently. I wrote it out and I look at it often during the day. I remind myself that God is ABLE to handle my problem better than I can, and that God is ALWAYS willing to help me in any and every challenge I face. I also made this little chart to further encourage myself.
Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Should I trust God or depend on my own understanding in this circumstance? Letās compareā¦
GOD ME
| Omnipotent | Kind of a weakling |
| Full of wisdom | Not too bright sometimes |
| Unlimited resources | Very limited resources |
| Created the heavens & the earth | Created nothing |
| Never changes | Changes with every trend |
| Is willing and able | Often only one or the other |
| Omniscient | Guessing most of the time |
| Always faithful | Tries to be faithful |
| Never breaks His Word | Has lied or misspoken |
| Omnipresent | Canāt be two places at once |
| Is LIGHT | Sees light |
| Is LOVE | Wants love |
| Can do miracles | Likes miracles |
Of course, this is an example of my quirky way of thinking, but I hope it blesses you. I think it shows pretty clearly that trusting God is a much better option than leaning unto our own understanding. š
Just remember that no matter how familiar you are with the scriptures, you can never afford to let them slip from your attention. The Word of God is powerful. (Hebrews 4:12) When we put forth the effort to keep Godās words in our minds and believe them, we will succeed!
Note to my readers: By the way, my situation started turning around the moment I put my trust in God and stopped trying to figure it out all on my own. Thanks for reading!