I. We Must Completely Rely On the Lord (5)

Proverbs 3:5-6 “God’s will for our lives”

Intro: A minister received a call from a church that offered him a salary four times what he was receiving. Being a devout man, he spent much time in prayer trying to discern what God wanted him to do. One day a friend met the minister’s young son on the street. “Do you know what your dad is going to do?” he asked. “Well,” replied the youngster, “Dad’s praying, but Mom’s packing!”

Most of us would agree that Knowing God’s will for our life is important when making decisions, but I believe what is more important is living in God’s will. I’m reminded of a prayer offered up at a meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Bobby Richardson, former New York Yankee second baseman, offered this prayer “Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen.”

How do we find God’s will for our lives, first we must define what is meant by God’s will? God has a purpose for you and His purpose is to be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus but in that purpose is a plan. God has a plan for your life; this simply means He has a blueprint for your life.

Context: Solomon is speaking to his son Rehoboam telling him of the rewards of wisdom, encouraging him to yield his life to God. In this text through divine inspiration of God, Solomon tells his son of a conditional promise, If you rely on the Lord completely and recognize Him as Lord constantly you will find God’s will and yourself living in it.

CPS: In order to know and live in God’s will, we must rely on Him completely and recognize Him as Lord of our life constantly.

I. We Must Completely Rely On the Lord (5)

Before we can move forward we must understand that part of God’s will for you is that you be saved. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 1 Timothy 2:4 God) Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. The most basic element of God’s will for you is that you trust Him for salvation, He desires this for you and personally established a plan so that you could be redeemed and set free from the bondage of sin and the wrath that follows. It sent Jesus from the throne room of heaven to pay your ransom on Calvary’s Cross, and the only way to receive God’s salvation is by grace through faith. Trusting Jesus as Savior is the first step towards knowing God’s will for your life, if you are not saved you are not in God’s will for your life.

The first condition Solomon gives his son is to rely completely on the Lord for all decisions. Life is full of decisions; salvation is the greatest, but what about all the others? God’s command is to Trust in the Him completely

The key theme in proverbs is wisdom. In this context there is a contrast between godly wisdom and worldly wisdom, and we are to rely on God’s wisdom. The word Trust in Hebrew is bā·ṭǎḥ, it means rely on to complete reliance.

ILL: I recall a story about a group of scientists and botanists who were exploring remote regions of the Alps in search of new species of flowers. One day they noticed through binoculars a flower of such rarity and beauty that its value to science was incalculable. But it lay deep in a ravine with cliffs on both sides. To get the flower someone had to be lowered over the cliff on a rope. A curious young boy was watching nearby, and the scientists told him they would pay him well if he would agree to be lowered over the cliff to retrieve the flower below. The boy took one long look down the steep, dizzy depths and said, “I’ll be back in a minute.” A short time later he returned, followed by a gray-haired man. Approaching the botanist, the boy said, “I’ll go over that cliff and get that flower for you if this man holds the rope. He’s my dad.” Trusting in the Lord is complete reliance upon the Lord as though all your weight is being laid upon a rope and at the end of the rope is God holding it.

Notice the preposition “with.” We are to trust Him with, “All thine heart!” It is with everything, the totality of our heart! He is not speaking of that blood pumping organ beneath your breast; He is speaking of all your inner self. It’s ttrusting him with your mind and your volition! We rely on the Lord with all our knowledge and will, all our beliefs and decisions of life are to be submitted to Him!

Each day has thousands of decisions , each are to be submitted to God. Our tendency is to do as we please, but God says lean not upon our own understanding. Understanding in Hebrew is bî·nā, it means discernment, or the ability to react to life situations. God created us with the ability to think, so we don’t have to leave all common sense at home, but we are instructed to not lean on our common sense. Lean in Hebrew is shâʿan, it means to support oneself to rest, just like I’m leaning on this pulpit.

Illustration: Samson, after we was bound and blinded asked the young boy to lead him to the pillars so that he may lean upon them. Judges 16:26 “Then Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean (shâʿan) against them.” Samson had leaned upon his own wisdom and now he leaned on the pillars of the house of a foreign god pleading that the Lord strengthen him just once more so that he may fulfill God’s will for his life. At his death Samson lived in God’s will, by destroying the Philistines! From a Nazerite to a never mind, from a judge to a jester, this is what happens when we lean on our own understanding, we miss the sacred blessings of living in Gods until our death.

We must rely completely upon the Lord with EVERY decision in life, thinking things out in his presence, trusting Him for the decision!

Application: How do we do this? God’s wisdom is always found through His Word and Prayer! James 1:5 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” Phil. 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” We must ask God earnestly and humbly then His aid is promised to come.

II. We Must Constantly Recognize the Lord (6)

The second condition Solomon gives is to constantly recognize the Lordship of God. There is an old saying, “God is Lord of all or not Lord at all.” The word acknowledge in Hebrew is yā·ḏǎʿ, it means to become known or to notice. In this context it means acknowledge God as our Heavenly Father and Sovereign Lord of all!

ILL: I remember when my boys were small and after 5 days on the road I’d come home. My boys would stop what they were doing and run towards me shouting daddy, daddy and wrap their arms around me in a tight embrace. That’s how we acknowledge our heavenly Father at all times, embracing Him intimately as daddy.

But He isn't just our loving daddy He is sovereign God of the universe who has the right to rule over our lives and we must submit to His Lordship!

ILL: To submit means to yield the right of way. When I drive around my subdivision there are yield signs which instruct me to slow down or stop when a car is coming from the other direction. If we want to know and live in God’s will we must yield completely to Him.

What a reward we receive when we yield to Him! Listen to this blessed promise, “He will direct our paths.” In Hebrew direct is yâshar , means to literally cut a straight path. This is more than guidance but the removal of obstacles! Listen to Is. 40:3-4 “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill shall be made low: And the crooked shall be made straight, And the rough places plain.”

When we rely on Him completely and recognize Him constantly, He will bulldoze a path through the wilderness. The obstacles will be removed and by the providence of Sovereign God your path will be straight and you will be on it! Living in the will of God!

Conclusion: Perhaps you are being honest with yourself today and admit that you don’t know God’s will nor living out God’s will. You’ve made bad decisions because you haven’t trusted The Lord completely with those decisions and you admit that you haven't acknowledged God as Lord over every aspect of your life. That can change today, heed these instructions. Rely on the Lord completely and recognize Him constantly.