Life Lessons

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.” Proverbs 3:5-6

British missionary, A. Wetherell Johnson, was serving in China until 1950, when Mao Tse-tung’s communist regime forced missionaries to leave. She loved China deeply. With a torn heart she moved to the United States. Five ladies in San Bernardino, California, asked her to teach a Bible study. Here are her words, “My heart fell! What had I come to? In China there are millions who have not even heard His name. Am I to give more to those who already have so much?” Reluctantly she promised to pray about leading the study. She did say yes, but told them she would not spoon-feed them the Bible. She prepared lesson questions to help them learn to dig deeper into God’s Word themselves. This small group eventually became Bible Study Fellowship, which has grown to over 1,000 classes with more than 200,000 members in 38 nations across six continents!

Dashed hopes are often the breeding ground for God to do great things in our lives. It doesn’t matter how much education or money one has. We all gain trust in God lesson by lesson, truth by truth. Each time we choose to trust Him, He gives us reason to trust Him more. Each step of faith illuminates the next, until eventually we learn that His direction is always best, even when we may not understand it or even like it.

When we choose to trust God with our whole heart, we unlock the abundance of His grace and wisdom in our lives. It is wonderfully freeing to realize that we don’t have to have all of the answers. All we need is a willingness to follow. This willingness requires complete surrender. It means letting go of controlling the situations and outcomes in our lives. It means letting go of trying to control others’ perceptions of us. This trust comes with a promise…He will direct the paths of our lives.

Dear Lord, how grateful I am that you are in complete control of my life so I don't have to worry. Help me to surrender to your guidance and your will when I'm tempted to control things in my own strength. In Jesus' name, amen.