Lean not on your own understanding. (Prov. 3:5)
ONE MORNING a number of years ago I assembled the ingredients for homemade pancakes. Griddle warmed, batter mixed, and kids eager to devour the first batch, I was confident they were going to be delicious and I would be the hero by putting smiles on the kids’ faces and filling their bellies. There was only one problem. When I tasted the first pancake it was horribly bitter. While I reviewed the recipe, the kids silently wondered when their mom would be up to save the day. Instead of baking powder I had used baking soda! It seemed like only a minor difference, but it had big consequences.
Of all the ingredients we’re given in the Bible for a good life, trusting in the Lord’s wisdom has no substitute. By exchanging our own understanding for His, our lives take on a bitter flavor, and God cannot bring about the sweetness He desires.
We read of Abraham, how when God called him to venture far from his homeland that he “obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going” (Heb. 11:8). How little sense this must have made to his relatives and friends! Without the element of trust in God’s wisdom, Abraham would have surely dismissed the thought and never gone. But by sticking to God’s recipe, Abraham became a friend of the Lord and our great example.
Ask God for the strength to trust His understanding.
Bill Beck loves spending time in the outdoors hiking, camping, and enjoying God’s creation. He and his wife, Lisa, live in South Dakota.
