“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

As human beings, we are prone to plan our own lives. We set goals that we want to achieve, we work hard to obtain material goods, and we struggle to gain the approval of others. We strive to get promoted in our jobs in order to achieve either a higher income or a higher social status. However, working towards all of this fills our hearts with anxiety. In this frantic search for our well-being and in our dedication and determination to conquer our goals, we oftentimes can become discouraged. We can become undone when we fail to see positive results from our hard work. It is in this situation that the enemy takes advantage and lies to us to cause us to think that we are not blessed and that the promises of God are not for everyone.

The desire to improve our situation and to successfully achieve our goals is not bad. However, sometimes we place our goals and our desires in the vanguard and we forget the most important thing, to place God in first place. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Nothing will be prospered unless we obey this commandment. We have to understand that nothing can prosper if we are forfeiting the commandment to seek God in first place. Everything that is placed above God is considered an idol, and doing so is considered a sin. Moreover, planning our lives without consulting God is wrong because we are essentially telling Him that we want to guide our lives our way. This is us trying to lean on our own understanding. In addition, when we do not place Him in first place, we demonstrate a lack of faith and we distrust that He will do in our lives what He has promised. In doing this, our attitudes demonstrate that only by our own means will be able to move forward.

The truth is that God wants to bless us. God wants His people to prosper. The prophet Jeremiah stated: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Therefore, if something is not going exactly as planned, do not rely on your own strength or lean on your own understanding. Instead, seek God, put Him in first place, and everything else will follow. Depend on Him with all your heart and He will guide your path towards victory.

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