Follow these 7 daily steps to make sure you’re
leaning on the Lord:
1. Don’t Depend on
You
We live in a world where trust must be earned
and seems to be in short supply. But Solomon, the famous king who wrote Proverbs,
knew that trust is exactly where we must start:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean
not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5)
Most of us have faced disappointments, which
have taught us that we can only depend upon ourselves. But living the life God
has called us to means unlearning that lesson. Instead, we’re meant to rest in
God’s understanding.
We may know in our minds that He possesses all
wisdom:
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing
out!” Romans 11:33
But sometimes trusting Him completely like
that can be tough. So, each day we must consciously lay aside our own plans and
expectations—and surrender to His plans.
What if we don’t feel like we can trust Him
like that? That’s where step 2 comes in…
2. Cry out to God
2. Cry out to God
Surrendering to God begins with our lips and
our thoughts. We need more than a commitment to depend on Him; we need to cry
out to Him to show that dependence.
“in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will
make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6)
When we pray, we admit that His ways are
higher than ours. We show that we’re leaving our troubles and burdens and
dreams in His capable hands. In fact, the Bible promises that when we reach out
to Him in prayer, He hears us:
“Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in
distress, and he hears my voice. ” (Psalm 55:17)
We handed the keys of our lives to Him, and we
know that He’s able to lead us. But in order for that to work, we have to…
3. Run from Evil
So much in this world can clutter up our
relationship with God. John, the writer of the fourth gospel, describes them as
the desires of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride in our lives (1 John 2:16). In other words, our blessings can
easily become our stumbling blocks when we think of them as what we deserve or
what we need to be happy.
Instead, life works best when we remember the
true source of our blessings—God—and focus on the things that please Him:
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the
LORD and shun evil.” (Proverbs 3:7)
Sometimes, the only way to live the life God
wants us to live is by separating ourselves from the bad influences that keep
dragging us down. That works the best when we start pursuing something else in
their place:
“Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue
righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord
out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22)
Is that easy? Not at all. Fleeing from the
evil desires that pull at us means spending a lot of time crying out to God and
leaning on Him. But our Creator promises to honor our commitment to Him when we
shun evil:
“This will bring health to your body and
nourishment to your bones.” (Proverbs 3:8)
When we pursue Him, we find life—abundant
life. Running from evil and pursuing God doesn’t come naturally to most of us.
Instead, it means we have to make a serious change:
4. Put God First in
Your Life
It’s easiest to put ourselves first. When
something good happens, we want to congratulate ourselves with a reward. When
something bad happens, we want to console ourselves or find someone to blame.
In other words, we often have a “me-centric” starting place.
And when it comes to money, the struggle is
even harder. But Solomon, who had quite a bit of wealth himself, knew that his
money didn’t belong to him:
“Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the
firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9–10)
If we can trust God with the first of our
wealth, we’re truly showing how much we depend on Him. Handing over the first
part of our paycheck takes a huge amount of faith, after all. But doing so
means being God-centric.
To get there, though, make sure you…
5. Check Yourself by
God’s Word
Let’s be honest. We aren’t so good at
evaluating ourselves. We will go to great lengths to excuse our behavior, our
actions, and our sins. Who needs a defense attorney when we can pretty much
find a reason for any bad thing we do? The prophet Jeremiah captures this very
well:
“The heart is deceitful above all things and
beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
If we’re ever going to truly trust in God and
flee evil, we have to know exactly where we stand. We have to find an objective
measure that tells us the truth. And that truth comes from God and His Word.
Of course, that doesn’t mean we’ll always like
what we see or how we see it:
“My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline
and do not resent his rebuke” (Proverbs 3:11)
That’s right. Sometimes it takes something bad
happening or seeing ourselves in a bad light before we finally admit that we
need to change. And the more we’re in the Bible, the more likely this is to
happen.
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I
might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)
When we have Scripture planted
firmly in our hearts, God will often use that to deal with us.
6. Listen to the
Holy Spirit
When Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to
the church, He told His disciples that this Counselor would be their spiritual
compass or GPS:
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of
everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)
As we go through our day, this same Holy
Spirit guides us, too. That means we don’t have to go it alone or hope we’re
getting it right. No, the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth and protects us:
“Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to
you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” (2 Timothy 1:14)
After all, the gift of the Holy Spirit to us
believers reminds us that we can truly…
7. Rest in God’s
Love
When we face a difficult world each day, we
can sometimes wonder if God even cares. Why do bad things happen? Where is God
when I need Him? Solomon reminds us that God never takes a break or leaves us
to fend for ourselves:
“because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.” (Proverbs 3:12)
Even in the midst of turmoil, God sticks with
us and uses those challenges to shape us. When we understand that, our
perspective completely flips. No longer do we see our setbacks as failures; we
see them as moments when God, as our loving Father, works on us.
And that’s exactly why we can trust in the
Lord with all our hearts. He cares for us each and every day. He gives us what
we need to thrive. He pours blessing after blessing upon us.
Of course, following each of these daily steps
isn’t easy. That’s why Jesus said we have to deny ourselves and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). Trusting God takes a
whole-hearted commitment from dawn till dusk. But we’re never alone in it:
“And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b)
