Trust an unknown future to a known God

Introduction: As we entered into the new year of 2025, there will be plenty of uncertainty. However, we can trust in God that He will make our paths straight. He already goes before us and prepare for what we need, not just what we want.

Proverbs 16:9 We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

In Deuteronomy 31:8 says The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Amen!

Key verses: Proverbs Chapter 3: verses 5–7 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.”

Pray: Thank You for 2024, Lord. Thanks for giving us new lives, new opportunities, family time, memories, new believers, church growth, outreach, community building, friendships deepening, fear overcome, health, lessons learned, and beautiful seasons. We come before you with hearts full of thanksgiving. You have also been with us through hardships, loss, grief, pain, anxiety, depression, doubts, struggles, sickness, and more. We pray that despite what has happened to us, we are grateful for Who gets us through. Thank You for being the God of all comfort who comforts us so we can comfort others. Thanks for making beauty from ashes. We have experienced spiritual growth through Your Word, prayer, and the church community. You have strengthened us, taught us who You are, and revealed wisdom in challenging situations. Thank You for walking with us each day and helping us to win. Your power enabled us to choose the Spirit over flesh this year many times. Your mercies have been new every morning, great is Your faithfulness. Please forgive us for the times we sinned in 2024. Thank you for being our Savior and calling us Your children. We celebrate the ending of this year and ask You to help us remember how You worked in 2024. Thank you for being faithful this year. May you reveal Your faithfulness again in 2025. May we be filled with Your joy and peace in 2025. May we be a reflection of Your light and love. Help us to trust You and be obedient to Your will.

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English Standard Version (Chapter 3)

5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

Trusting is essential to living successfully. There must be trust in our families, in our churches, in our companies.

In an uncertain situation, it was difficult for me to move forward. Fearing failure and the unknown. There were moments of self-doubt and setbacks that made me question my decision. However, each challenge served as a valuable learning experience, teaching me resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity. As my circumstances changed and I gained more than before, I found it more difficult to trust God as I once did when I had nothing. The fear of losing what I had accumulated made me hesitant to surrender control and fully rely on my faith. However, I realized that clinging too tightly to these possessions and accomplishments only increased my anxiety. I began to rely more on my own understanding and logic to navigate through life. I came to understand that all my achievements and possessions were blessings from the Lord. Remembering this truth helped me to release my grip on control and trust in His guidance. This newfound perspective allowed me to embrace gratitude and live with a renewed sense of purpose.

and do not lean on your own understanding.

46  The key to understanding faith is understanding what it is anchored in. It is not based in our own wisdom or knowledge but in Christ.

You think with your mind, and only then do you feel with your heart. You do not start with your heart, you start with your head, with your mind, with your understanding.

We cannot attain to the understanding of Scripture either by study or by the intellect. Your first duty is to begin by prayer. Entreat the Lord to grant you, of His great mercy, the true understanding of His Word.

The gospel can be understood by faith alone—not by reason, nor by the perspicacity of the human understanding.

6  In all your ways acknowledge him,

You cannot have it both ways. It is impossible to receive Christ, thereby acknowledging that you cannot save yourself, and then receive circumcision, thereby claiming that you can.

Jesus makes it clear that there are two ways in life, and two ways only, that are set before all people; it is thus important that the right choice be made.

If you do not teach your child the ways of the Lord, the Devil will teach them the ways of sin.

When Jesus said, “I am the Way,” He clearly intended to exclude all other ways, so beware lest you perish in any one of them!

John 14:5–6 “Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

and he will make straight your paths.

He who disregards his calling will never keep the straight path in the duties of his work.

Just like the parable about the boiling frog....I like it here.....They know who i am....they all respect me…i am so comfortable....I know what I'm doing......and slowly the frog got boiled alive. a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of sinister threats that arise gradually rather than suddenly.

The way of the Lord is the way of repentance, of turning from sin to righteousness, of turning moral and spiritual paths that are crooked into ones that are straight, ones that are fit for the King.

They who love God with all their hearts, find that his ways are ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace.

God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfil all His promises … leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.

Proverbs 3:5–6. God always knows where I am and where I need to be, and is willing to direct my paths—and yours as well. I pray you will trust in Him with all your heart.

In summary, Proverbs 1–9 teaches that there are two paths: one that is right and leads to life, and one that is wrong and leads to death.

7  Be not wise in your own eyes;

The opposite of fearing the Lord is to ‘be wise in your own eyes’. Those who fear God are humble.

Right from the start, he has his eyes fixed on Jesus; at the end of the letter, when he draws everything together, he urges us to have our eyes fixed on him, too (12:2; 13:8)

The eyes see what the heart loves. If the heart loves God and is single in this devotion, then the eyes will see God whether others see Him or not.

10    You can have your eyes on your own situation and become absorbed in self-pity, or you can get your eyes on yourself and be puffed with pride or demoralized by insecurity. With your eyes on yourself, you are constantly comparing your life with someone else’s. You will never stay balanced while fighting the comparison battle.

fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

There are … two kinds of fear. There is that fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom, which is founded in love. There is also a slavish fear, which is a mere dread of evil, and is purely selfish.

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

“The fear of the Lord is wisdom, and turning away from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).

We fear men so much, because we fear God so little. One fear cures another. When man’s terror scares you, turn your thoughts to the wrath of God.

The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.

Support verses: John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

For God so love the world that He send his only Son..

For I so in love with God that wherever He sent me I’ll Go.

Faith with out work is death. James 2:14–26 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend …”

Also in bible has mention We can love God back because He first loved Us. 1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”

For I so in love with God that wherever He sent me I’ll Go. Not because I’m ready, or confident in me,