Lean On The Lord

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. Proverbs 3: 5 - 6

My prayer is that these verses will not just be a well-memorized word, an often and strategically quoted memory verse. May we seek the Lord’s help to not know these words with our own understanding.

To trust is also to lean. Lean on the Lord then, with all your heart and do not lean on your own head. You must see that your understanding is in your head, whether educated or not. It is all as your mind tells you and gives you wisdom and reasoning. Listen to these words again. Lean not on your head, instead lean on the Lord.

Now, how do you lean? You must lean with all your heart. Look at the heart. Did you know that it is the heart, not the head that is the more vulnerable, yet the more volatile? Does not the Word of God deal with the broken-hearted, the hard-hearted and the whole-hearted? Was it not Jeremiah who said in Jeremiah 17: 9, The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? And is this not why David says in Psalm 51:10, Create in me a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

It never hit me before, as it has done today, the truth about my heart. My heart is too far gone, too deceitful to be renewed, repaired, or fixed up. I need another heart, a totally and completely new heart. Create in me a new heart O Lord. And so, with all my heart, all my infested and sick heart, sick with evil and sin, I will lean on the Lord.

It is because I recognize the heart that is mine, that I lean all of it on You O Lord. Jesus, Holy Lord, I will trust You, lean on You with all this heart of mine and not put any weight, good or bad, small or big, on my own understanding. Amen!

Accept then this offer, this advice, this given Word. We continue with Proverbs chapter 3: 6. When you accept this advice and literally live it, there is a response, a reward, something the Lord does. This is His offer, not yours. It’s His Word, not yours. Are you ready for it? He says that He shall direct your paths. It stands to promise therefore, that if you acknowledge Him in all your ways, then the Lord cannot but make your paths straight and direct your ways.

But you need to know what it means to acknowledge Him in all your ways. To acknowledge is not just to bow the head at someone, or give them a greeting. It’s not to be like what happens at functions, or gatherings, where a person on the platform suddenly notices another in the audience or congregation, who is her or his superior. That one on the platform is thrilled and publicly acknowledges the presence of the higher one, in the crowd of people. The one on the platform may even ask the higher one to stand and get the people to give a rousing applause to the guest, then he continues in his or her way. No! That is not the kind of acknowledgement for Jesus. To acknowledge Jesus our Lord in every way, in all ways, is to see Him and acknowledge Him by removing yourself and giving it all over to Him. To acknowledge the Lord in all your ways is a deliberate, conscious, stepping aside, giving over, handing over, to the Lord.

When you do this to the Lord, in big and small matters, then He will never say no. He will never refuse to take over.

Acknowledge God in all your ways. Acknowledge Him by trusting in Him and leaning on Him. Now here is a tip on leaning. Here is where the ever present deceiver always finds some way, not to get you to disobey outright, or say no, to the Lord, but to get you to obey with reservations and restrictions.

When you lean on someone or something, and you only put part of your weight down, you are really saying that you do not trust that one to carry your weight, because you see yourself as heavier than that one or that thing. Is that not what you also do to God at times? When you have heavy and heavier burdens, when the load is so very huge, varied and diverse, you choose which one to lean on God with. You even choose which ones to bring to Him and when and where. Do you know that by doing this, you are not acknowledging the Lord in all your ways? Do you want the Lord to carry only the loads you think you cannot manage, or do you want Him to carry every load you have?

To lean then, means to put down your full weight upon that which you are resting.

The second tip when leaning, is that you only use part of your body, partial leaning. Look at when you lean against a pole, chair, tree or person. You lean yes, but your feet are there holding you up still. Know what I mean? You are leaning yes, but you are still in control. That is not the leaning we must do on Jesus. To lean then, means to relinquish and lose all control, so that the Lord has all control. Here again is where the deceiver gets you, because you keep control still, of the things you feel you ought to be doing. You lean on God yes, but with the part of your body you can release and be free with, while still ensuring that you remain in control.

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that this word is for me. I know that I have quoted it so very often yet never really seeing that I have not been leaning on You with all the weight of my problems, stresses and fears. Holy Lord Jesus, I truly want to learn how to lean on You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and NOT lean on my own understanding. Let me hear these words again please. Amen!