“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 your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

In this verse, the emphasis is on the heart. You'll find that this emphasis comes in the book of Proverbs often. Here we see that faith is not a matter of the mind. It's interesting that Solomon himself understood that in the Old Testament, but sometimes we can make that mistake. We can understand certain truths (i.e., God is a loving father or God loves the disciples of Jesus as much as he loves Jesus - not everybody by the way, and not even all believers, but disciples of Jesus who have forsaken everything), but they are things I may only understand in my head. In the moment of trial, I still get anxious, because I don't believe them from my heart. There's a lot of difference between believing something in my head, which is the type of faith the devil has, and trusting in the Lord with all my heart. For that, I need revelation of the Holy Spirit. 

To believe something in your head, all you need is a good bible teacher who will expound the subject well, and then you have understood it. We think that is faith, but in the moment of trial, we discover it's not faith at all. We think we have money, but when we go to the shop, we find that it's counterfeit currency. It's only a photograph of real money. It's not the real thing. The moment of trial reveals when our faith has not come from our heart, but merely from our head. That's why we have to pray much that God will give us revelation. That way our faith will not just sit in our mind but move deep down into our hearts. Then in the moment of trial, that faith holds us, and we don't shake. Trust in the Lord with all your heart!

Then he says, "Do not lean on your own understanding." Our own understanding is our reason which is in our mind. He says not to trust your mind! Instead, trust the Lord with all your heart. He's drawing a contrast here between the mind and the heart. He says, "Your mind is unreliable. Your mind tells you that you really believe that God is a loving father, but in the moment of trial, you get anxious. That proves you don't believe God is a loving father from your heart." This is what we have spoken of often in our church: that the number one enemy of faith is our own clever reasoning. That's why it's very difficult for clever people to come to faith. It's not impossible, but it is difficult, because they tend to lean on their own cleverness. And you find that clever people get anxious even though they understand so much of the scriptures. They can't come to victory over sin, because they don't have faith. They're clever and they lean on their own reasoning. 

This is the big mistake that all bible schools and bible colleges make. They teach people to do the very thing the word of God says not to do: lean on their own understanding in trying to understand and expound scripture. No emphasis is placed on the revelation of the Holy Spirit, and the result is that those who come out of bible schools and bible colleges become the biggest hindrances to God's work everywhere. It's because they violate this principle. You can't get faith by studying in a bible school. Faith comes by revelation from the Holy Spirit. And the same things apply in the church as well. We're not just to grasp doctrines intellectually and try to dish them out to other people. We have to be gripped by them in our hearts. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean to your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:6 says, "In all your ways acknowledge him." In other words, give every area of your life over to God. Let him control your money matters, let him control what you read, let him control how you spend your time, let him control every area of your family life, let him control the ambitions you have for your children, let him control your profession, let him control you in every area. In all your ways! Then he will make your paths straight, direct your paths, and give you guidance. There are many people who would like guidance in a particular area of their life, and they say, "Lord, in this area, I'm willing to do anything you want me to do. Guide me." And the Lord says, "I can't guide you, because you don't acknowledge me in all your ways! Don't just acknowledge me in this area, but in every area. If you're willing to let me have control of your entire life, then I will guide you." 

If you want guidance only in one area, and you only yield that one area to God, there's no promise that you'll get guidance. But if in all your ways - in every single area of your life - you want to acknowledge him and let him direct our paths, then he will guide you. And not only guide you, but it also says he will "clear the road up for you." That road that's blocked with so many obstructions, he will clear it up for you. If you find in your life, brother or sister, that there are obstacles and all types of things hindering you in your onward path, just think of this word: if you acknowledge God in all your ways, and trust in him with all your heart, and don't lean to your own understanding, he will clear the road for you. You can't clear it yourself; you've tried so long. He will clear the road for you! Think of what a life we can live, where he clears the road up for us as we keep moving forward. That's the life of a man who trusts God with all his heart, doesn't lean on his own cleverness, and acknowledges God in every single area of his life.