I'll Keep on Leaning

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

If you're old enough to read this, I have no doubt you've come to a conclusion I've also reached: life is hard. If you haven't had a reminder of that fact lately, you no doubt will soon. I've heard it said before that at any given point in our lives we're one of three things: going through a store, coming out of a storm, or going into a storm. Experience tells me that there's a lot of truth in that statement.

With storms being a fact of life, it's very important that we determine how best to handle them. Some people try to ignore the problem. The problem with that is that it doesn't deal with the situation. While we try to pretend nothing is wrong, things could very well get worse. Being physically sick and doing nothing to try to improve your health makes no sense. By the same token, it makes no sense to sit back and ignore our spiritual and emotional issues. Something must be done to correct them.

Others try to handle everything themselves. To be sure, there are some problems that we can correct by applying ourselves to find a solution, but that won't always be the case. We're all human, and there are some things that are simply too hard for us. To make an application from the temporal realm, if I have a flat tire on my car, that's something I can fix myself by simply changing the tire. If my transmission goes out, that's beyond my ability. If I were to try to fix that, I'd likely make the situation worse. Often, when we rely on our own strength to calm our storms, we only complicate the matter.

It doesn't take a lot of thought to come to the conclusion that the best way to deal with life's difficulties is to turn them over to God. It might surprise you, however, when I say that there is a right way and a wrong way to do even that. When you take you troubles to God, on whose terms do you do so? Yours or His?

Let me explain what I mean. There are some who pray about a problem, already having determined in their own minds what the correct answer is, and more or less demanding that God do as they say. Some people view God as little more than a slave bound to do as their "faith" says He must. Those with that attitude need to reread 1 John 5:14-15: "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." The guarantee of receiving what we ask for is dependent upon asking what is in the will of God.

That brings us to the proper way to take our burdens to God. We cast them on Him and trust Him to do as He sees fit, knowing that what He has in mind is best. This doesn't mean that He'll take us out of the storm. Sometimes, He does. Other times, He simply sustains us in the storm. Paul found out when he petitioned the Lord to remove the thorn in his flesh that while God didn't do as he asked, He did do what was best. Paul found that with the thorn came the grace of God, and he determined that it was better to deal with the thorn if it meant receiving grace.

There is a calm in the storm when we determine to rely on God  and trust His will. As long as He is aboard the ship, it will never sink. He is our captain, and He will bring us safely to shore. The sooner we learn that and claim it, the sooner we find peace. What can we do when we face difficulty? We lean on the Everlasting Arms. What do we do when the storm rages on? We keep on leaning. It's not always easy, but it's always the right thing to do. Yes, I've learned that life is tough, but I've learned that my God is tougher. The sun will eventually shine again.