Don't Try to Figure it Out on Your Own

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God… –Proverbs 3:5-7 MSG

How often have we heard the advice in the verse above, but failed to put it into action? How often has our quest to craft the perfect solution resulted in undesirable consequences that we didn’t foresee? As Christians, we have a tool that others lack—the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will bring to our minds factors we need to think about. He will inform us of somebody who needs our attention, a circumstance we didn’t know, or something that could cause great harm or distress. How do we hear God’s voice? We know that we need to seek the Lord through prayer; but, usually we are doing all of the talking. And that’s not how God intends it. After expressing our thoughts and concerns, we must be still, taking the time to simply listen during prayer. Second, we need to spend time reading His word. Often what we hear him saying in prayer will be confirmed in Scriptures. Finally, we are to talk to other Christians whom we trust. We must have mentors in our lives who respect us enough to be honest when we ask them for their opinions. When we listen to God’s voice, our plans may change, but the result will surely be more fruitful. The next time we have a decision to be made, we must trust God.