LifeLink Devotions for Monday, February 3, 2025

As I age I find myself leaning on things more often. When I stand for an extended length of time I move towards walls or counters or chairs that can provide support. It’s not like I need a lot of support, but a little feels more comfortable for these old spindly legs. Having something to lean on adds to my endurance. It’s really hard to physically lean on myself. I usually fall over when I try.

The same thing happens when I try to lean on my own understanding of things. My perspective of things is short-sighted so I can’t see the big picture. My knowledge is limited to the realm of my experiences, so my list of possible solutions is short. If the outcome of any circumstance is dependent on only what I see and know, then I will experience lots of failure.

Not so if I choose not to lean on me. The second piece of wisdom found in Proverbs three verse five is this – “lean not on your own understanding.” In other words, “It doesn’t have to make sense to me.”

That is so hard. I want everything to make sense. I have always questioned how everything works because I want to understand it. Early on in my life it became an expression of my pride. If I could understand it and explain it, then I stood approved in my own eyes. But God has replaced that pride with a healthy desire to know more. What makes that desire healthy is that it’s not for my benefit, but for His service. And when He doesn’t reveal the understanding to me He’s building my trust in Him.

Being a Pastor takes a lot of understanding, and a constant recognition that I will never understand enough to do it on my own. In fact, even what I do know is insufficient to claim even a little success. I must lean on God’s understanding and trust Him to guide every decision and provide the wisdom necessary for every situation. Trust in Him and less leaning on me are inseparable.

Let’s go back to the story of my move into full-time ministry. I had been pastoring a small church part-time for about seven years when we moved, and we had even gone through a building program. But this new church had different challenges, and God had a different vision for its impact on the community. I could not lean on my own understanding. God gave me His vision for a youth ministry in the town that would require great faith to implement. I had no experience with the ministry, so outside resources were brought in to increase our understanding. We had to lean on them to make it work. And work it did. We started with thirteen children from our church and grew to over forty in the first two weeks. Within three months we were over one hundred and had to find a new space to hold the ministry.

When the idea was first introduced to the congregation of 35 people, it was overwhelming. But we knew God was doing it so we didn’t lean on our own understanding, but chose to trust Him. To this day I still get calls from children who were in that ministry and they thank me for what it did in their lives.

Your understanding will only get you so far as you can go by yourself. But when we lean on God and His infinite understanding, the possibilities are endless.

Pastor John