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."

(Proverbs 3:5-6)

I always have problems with popular verses. I get in this place where I don't want to use them or listen to them because they start becoming smooth on my mind... they don't bite into my brain and stick, because the verse has been repeated so often, so freely.

Proverbs 3:5-6 is one of the verses every Christian probably posts as a Facebook status at least once in their life. I see it so often that I start ignoring it. 

This morning I feel I have been challenged by God to rough it up for my mind a little bit, help give it teeth. If you can't find meaning in a verse, the problem is not the verse. The problem is you. Fix the problem. That's sort of my Bible motto. Seek out the truth, don't just expect it to always clobber you over the head.

"Trust in the Lord. With all your heart..."  
I am not a trusting person. I have been hurt a lot in my life, and on top of that, I'm just quiet, reserved, private. It's how I'm wired. I don't mind sharing myself with people, but they have to be the right people and they have to really care, make an effort. 
The root of my trust issues, however, is a desperate desire to be in control. I always want to know what is coming, when it is coming, who is involved, what I am supposed to do. Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm obsessed with planning. I want details.
Unfortunately for me, that's not how God works. God wants us to trust Him. He is not going to tell us everything. Isaiah 55:8-9, we are told, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Not only is the Lord’s plan different than my little dreamworld, it is better. It is higher.
If anyone is trustworthy, it's the One who created us in the beginning and preserves us until the end. It’s the one who built this roller coaster.
So this is what I must work on. Trusting God, because He has proven Himself trustworthy more times than any human I trust ever has or ever will.  

"...and lean not on your own understanding." 
When you are a control addict like myself, you lean on your own understanding a lot. Always desiring control walks hand in hand with trust issues. Failure to entrust control of a situation to another person is showing that you don't believe they're capable of taking care of it correctly.
You aren't trusting their understanding. You don't trust their ability to react correctly to a situation. You don't trust their ability to plan, predict, etc. 
I do this with God all the time. I'm the most uptight, prideful sinner on the face of the planet - of this I am convinced. I have so much trouble letting go of my own understanding of life and future, and letting Him take over with His perfect understanding. Even with cognitive knowledge of His complete superiority in every way... I have trust issues. This cannot continue. If I am going to be all I can be for Christ, I need to let go of the little rumpled polaroid I have of my life, and let God unfold the full-length movie He has for me.    

"In all your ways, acknowledge Him..." 
So far, we've been told to trust God and let go of our own understanding of things. These are steps to acknowledging God as the only one who has His act together, the only one who knows what is Good for us.
We as humans have a habit of assuming, with our every thought and deed, that we are the most important things that exist. We are categorically after our own interests. But we as Christians, free from bondage to our sinful nature, are called to acknowledge that the Lord is our priority. Our decisions should not be based on our selfish desires or our daily whims. Our decisions need to be based on Christ alone. This is the essence of Godly living. Our lives are no longer our own. This should mean that in every situation we seek Him.
 Acknowledging God means actively looking for how He is glorified and praised and served in every single second of our lives.
Acknowledging God means saying, “He is the one who matters. He is the one who is in control.”
Acknowledging God means pointing to Him with our every move.

"...and He will make your path straight."
What a beautiful promise. Once we've ditched our own limited knowledge, and we've entrusted our futures and decisions to God, we are assured that nothing is going to be out of place. If I were leaning on my own understanding to work out my life, I would have to be terrified that I was going to screw up the entire thing. If I lean on God's understanding, I can be sure that He will make my path straight. I'm not going to go anywhere He does not want me to go. God's priority is His glorification and my righteousness. My path is straight, my path is specific.

There is no greater source of Peace.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, 
And lean not on your own understanding. 
In all your ways acknowledge Him, 
And He will make your path straight."