June 3, 2019
Proverbs 3:5-6
 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

New International Version (NIV)
                They gave us a lot of things as we walked out of Hillcrest Hospital in Waco on April 4, 1990.  We loaded up our firstborn son and put him in his brand new car seat and drove to the parsonage.  When we made it back to the house and placed Graham under his elephant mobile, I looked through the things the hospital sent home with us.  Looking back, somehow, they forgot to give us the manual.  There was no instruction book for raising a baby. 

                Solomon’s issues with raising children were on a different scale.  With a thousand wives and concubines, the number of children to raise was surely overwhelming.  As King of Israel he could surely find people to help with the day to day needs.  But how do we raise children to grow up and love God with heart, soul, mind and strength?

                Solomon starts the book of Proverbs with a simple preface.  This book is to help young people become wise.  Knowledge and wisdom begin with the fear of the Lord.  As an eighteen year old in a college dorm I met and memorized these verses.  The wisdom we need as children of God is found here.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”  This helped me as an aspiring young ministerial student.  It helps me today as I still try to love my children and my future grandchildren. 

                I preached on these verses when I was eighteen.  I remember seeing a picture of a woman in Athens standing in the rubble of her earthquake-shattered home.  Her eyes were lifted up as were her hands, looking to God alone for help.  What would happen if we trusted God with all of our all today?  What if we mistrusted our own understanding?  What if knowing God is the key to knowing what to do next?  When he shows us the path today, by all means let us stay on it and pursue it all the way home to him.
Pray with me:    
Father, you too know the feeling of wanting to help your children.  As we trust you today, show us your way for our lives moment by moment.  Whisper over our shoulders, “Here is the way.  Walk in it.”  Let us not miss your voice because of the clashing noise around us today.  Speak Lord, your children are listening.  We trust you.  You have never failed us once.  In Jesus’ name, we pray.  Amen.     
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan.  Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download 
the app at readscripture.org.  Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully, 
Duane 

About Duane Archives
Subscribe to our email list.