Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Thoughts from Pastor Stuart
Dive Deeper
Behind the Scenes
In western culture, we commonly refer to the heart as the seat of feeling, passion, desire, and will. But in other cultures, this part of us is sometimes attributed to the gut or even to the bowels. Deep down I think we understand that the physical heart doesn’t actually understand these things, but the physical reactions we have to these strong feelings and thoughts often cause us to attribute them to somewhere in our core.
But did you know that science has identified a very special system in the brain called the limbic system where we process feelings, emotions, memories, and our will. It is literally where the “heart” of a person resides. This is the special place in your brain that the spirit of a person is expressed.
This system works in tandem with the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain responsible for logic and understanding. These two amazing parts of your brain are specifically designed to work side-by-side to help you not only understand your life, but to really experience it too.
Make it Real
So, it makes sense that this is where the enemy loves to get us off track. He attacks our understanding and logic, telling us lies that make us doubt ourselves and our Lord. He attacks our limbic system too, waging war against our emotions, inciting unrighteous passions, and planting unhealthy desires in our minds.
But God is bigger than anything the enemy can throw at us and repeatedly in His Word, the Lord promises that those who guard their hearts (limbic system), and minds (prefrontal cortex) will stand firm and prosper. This is one of those promises. When we surrender to the Lord our wills, our emotions, our logic, and our desires, we will see our roads straighten, taking us exactly where we were always meant to go.
In this verse, King Solomon reminds us that both our hearts and our minds need to be in full surrender to God. Trusting God with our hearts means trusting Him when our emotions, our desires, or our wills would have us go in the opposite direction to His will for us. It means surrendering even when we don’t feel like it. And choosing not to lean on our own understanding means that when the logic of this world or our own rationalizations don’t line up with Him, we choose to abandon what we think we know for a God who knows more than we ever could hope to.
See, in the end it’s about who we believe God is. Do we believe that He is good, wise, and powerful… like really believe it? Or do we just say those things? When the rubber meets the road, will we stand on what we feel and think or stand on what the God of the universe says is true?
We have an incredible blessing that the God who is above all else has chosen to make Himself known to us. He has chosen to reveal His thoughts and His will to us. We are so blessed! But we have to decide to do something with this revelation of Himself. We have to decide to choose Him over us.
So, who will you choose today?
Crystal Garnett
ACF Digital Discipleship Team Lead
End in Prayer
Hey God!
Thank You for making me so wonderfully! Thank You for caring about what I think and what I feel. God, today, I pray that You would help me to bring all my thoughts, feelings, emotions, and will to You! Help me to trust You with my whole heart and not lean on my own understanding. Help me to surrender to You fully today.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen