It seems like the buzz words of today are COVID19, social distancing, unemployment, quarantine, death, testing, vaccination, divorce, bills, etc. When will it all end? This has been a very challenging year for us all but for me it has been a wild rollercoaster for sure and what’s worse is that it sometimes made me feel alone. From enduring a near fatal vehicular accident to calibrating career opportunities, it has been incredibly trying, yet I have found peace in the Gospel of God. Seeking God’s voice in all the noise has giving me the strength and peace to keep pressing forward no matter the blows I have sustained. In the words of Rocky Balboa:

“You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’sabout how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

When the walls of life and uncertainty caves in, we discover what it means to say the name of Jesus and be filled with His peace. It’s that peace and presence that is getting me through these days because I certainly could NOT get through on my own.

But peace only comes through choosing to align your heart, mind and actions under the rule of God in obedience to Him. Peace grows out of the choices we make based on faith. It is nurtured and cultivated in a spirit of total dependence upon God and surrender to His will. God gives us three principles in Proverbs 3:5-6 that will help us live in the favor of His peace.

1. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

What would happen if you only trusted in the chair or couch you are sitting on, or will sit on later, with a half heart? What if you really didn’t think it would hold you up? How would that change your behavior? Would you sit down gently and hold onto something else in case it were to give way and you were to fall? Or would you only sit for a short period of time? If you knew the chair or couch might collapse beneath you at any moment, you wouldn’t flop down on it with all of your weight. Nor would you sprawl out and read a book or take a nap. This is because trust affects our choices. God wants you to trust Him with your whole heart so that your choices are influenced by that trust.

2. Lean not on your own understanding.

I don’t cook much, but I have boiled an egg before. Once. I did it only once because I forgot about what I was doing, walked away, and then the pan boiled dry and nearly caught on fire after being left on for so long. But anyone who cooks, or even just boils eggs, knows that in order for a meal, dessert or snack to turn out, the cook needs to follow the instructions. Leaning on your own understanding, especially if you have limited understanding about ingredients like I do, can be disastrous at worst and tasteless at best. God made this world. He knows how it works. He knows what each of us must do in order to experience abundant life. To make choices based on our own finite understanding while neglecting the instructions of the Master Chef is disastrous at worst and empty at best.

3. In all your ways acknowledge Him.

To acknowledge God in all you do doesn’t mean to reference Him or give Him a holy “shout-out.” To acknowledge Him means to look to Him. Set your eyes on Christ and His way in order to know which way you are to move forward. It’s all about where you choose to focus. Are you making your choices based on an eternal, kingdom perspective or on a limited, worldly perspective? Where you look determines where you’ll wind up. Amen!

When you make the choice to trust in the Lord with all of your heart, to let go of your own way of understanding things and to look to God in everything you do, He will make your path straight. He will set you on the right road, headed in the right direction. He will give you peace. That peace that will blow your mind and reestablish you footing. Because when you have done all you can do to stand, then you must kneel and not yield! Remember, when you see only one set of footprints, God is carrying you through!

Adapted: T. Evans