May I pose a question to you? Who are you leaning on for understanding and help? Are you leaning on yourself, friends, spouse, significant other, or God? Scripture tells us, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).
Webster defines the word leaning very simply, "to rely on for support or inspiration." If you lean on someone or lean upon them, you depend on them for support and encouragement. To lean in to a relationship, we have to be open and honest with our partner. We also have to be able to be attentive to their needs while clearly communicating and prioritizing our own needs. It's a balance, but it can improve the quality of our relationships more than any marker or milestone, we are intent on achieving.
What does it mean in the Bible to lean, acknowledge, and follow the Lord? It means leaning away from our own understanding and lean toward God's, by acknowledging Him, we are to actively pursue God's will for our life and do the things that God wants us to do instead of having our own way.
As a people of God, we have not always leaned on the Lord when it came to our own understanding. It is evident today, because many of our lives are presently in disarray. To lean to one own's understanding is relying on yourself to work things out rather than allowing on God to be the Decider in the things that you do. To lean on the Lord means that we will consult the Lord, not only when we are in the valley of life, but also during our mountain top experiences. We must acknowledge that we are finite, but He is infinite. By leaning on the Lord, it will show one important thing, that we value our relationship with Him.
Going to church is not a true indicator that someone has a relationship with God, nor by participating in programs in the church will make someone, one with the church. People spend a lifetime in the church and their reward will not be heavenly, "absent from the body but present with the Lord," but a banishment to a place of eternal fire, because there was NO God in their hearts. Scripture says, "greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).
When I gave my life to Christ, I was around the age of thirteen, but after my confession, I strayed a little bit. Around the age of nineteen, I met the love of my life. We got married and about seven years into our marriage, we were headed to divorce court. We decided that we were not going to seek a marriage counseling, but seek the One who ordains marriage - God. We drew closer to God, and rededicated our lives to Him. That was in 1983 and our son was nearly three years old. God freely gave us His Spirit to guide us, to teach us, to lean on Him in turbulent times. It was during that test, that our lives began to change. It was then, that we learned to "lean not to our own understanding."
This world is not our friend and we should stay away from its sinful trappings, its worldly wisdom is dangerous, and it gives you a false sense of security. The worldly people think differently and they play by a total different set of rules. When you seek the Lord's guidance, you will find out that the biggest and greatest shoulder you can ever lean on is Jesus. Without a doubt, He can handle your problems and everyone else's problems too, and no one will go lacking.
When I was growing up I was always told how wonderful God is and how God was our Provider. I was told that all I had to do was stay prayed up and lean on God for my every need. I know what I was told was true spiritual advice, but there was times that I strayed, and at times I went through life leaning on my own understanding. I made some good choices and I also made some bad choices. If I would not have made those bad choices, the outcome could have been different. If only I had not leaned onto my own understanding. I praise God for His grace and mercy, and that He is a God that provides, not just second chances, but oftentimes, many chances. Life is a good teacher, but the problem is, sometimes we don't always get a second chance to untangle the mess we get ourselves in. Trials and errors can be very disastrous, and that is nothing more than leaning to ones own understanding.
Some people have made many mistakes in their lifetime, and that is why we try so hard to lead our children from that selfish imagination of knowing it all and trying to be self-reliance. Don't be afraid to let your children know that if they make bad choices, they may fall into a dangerous situation, although they don't think that we know what we are talking about. Yes, a lot of us have been there, and done that. Just as they think they are writing their own storybook today, we also thought we were writing our book then. Solomon says it plainly, "There is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Bad choices leads to bad consequences.
Most people are familiar with many of the old hymnals, such as "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." If you listen closely, you would have a better understanding as to what this is really saying to our spirit. This song depicts Jesus as our everlasting arms, not arm, but arms. It starts with, "What a fellowship, what a joy divine, Leaning on the everlasting arms; What a blessedness, what a peace is mine, Leaning on the everlasting arms." Yes indeed, leaning on Jesus keeps "us safe and secure from all alarms."
So what was the message that Solomon wanted us to know when he said, "And lean not unto thine own understanding." First of all, we should lean onto the Lord, because we need His wisdom to make it in this troubling and sinful world, as we transition to eternal life. James says, "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere" (James 3:17).
We should lean on Jesus because He "is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy" (Jude 1:24). Only God can protect Believers and keep them from stumbling. Only Christ and Christ alone, through the indwelling of His Spirit, can allow us to come before His glorious presence. When we stand there, in awe, because when we gave our lives to Christ, He has pronounced us "Not Quilty," we will stand before Him without fault and with great joy.
We should lean on Jesus because He said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). God has promised all Believers, that He would never, never leave us, nor would He never ever forsake us. Some people reads this, or hear this statement, and they convince themselves that God is always going to be with them and He will never leave them, and that they will never encounter any difficulties. They will never have to face troubles of any kind. WRONG! Stuff happens, and stuff happens to Believers. But when your life is turned upside down, for those that love God, take heart, God will never leave you nor forsake you.
We should lean on Jesus because Scripture tells us to: "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall" (Psalm 55:22). In Matthew 6:24-34, Jesus admonishes about worrying. He tells us not to worry about food and clothing because, Your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to. So don't be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrows too. Live one day at a time. We can cast all our anxiety upon Him, with confidence, because He cares. Those things that concerns us, they concerns Him too. He is never too busy to hear our prayers. He may not give us exactly what we want, but He will always give us what is best for us.
We should lean on Jesus because we are told, "His anger lasts a moment; his favor lasts for life. Weeping may go on all night, but in the morning there is joy" (Psalm 30:5). Life isn't easy. Our failures may outnumber our accomplishments or vice versa. In life, sometimes we are up and at other times we are down. We have our weeping season and we will have our joyful season. Sometimes it may appear that you are having both seasons, all at once. When we are going through our weeping season, we are always looking for the joy in the morning to arrive.
We can't always look for the bright sunshine as the arrival of a new day that brings joy in the morning, because joy in the morning can come in your darkest hour of the night, which could be your morning. There are times, when it is dark in my life, due to a particular circumstance or a situation that I am dealing with, but I still have joy. The sun has not risen yet, but the SON has risen. I have joy! You see, what determines your morning is when you have joy. God can turn bitterness into sweetness, sorrow into joy, mourning into music.
Remember, do not lean unto thine own understanding. Without the Lord as your guide, when you go through the fog of life, you will wander aimlessly. God's Word is your compass in life and IT points you in the direction that you should travel. Psalm 119:133 says, "Direct my footsteps according to your Word; let no sin rule over me." God is the fountain of knowledge, why not drink from it. He created you, why not let Him lead you? We need Jesus everyday, every hour, every minute, and every second of our life.
Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).