Proverbs 3:5–6 (ESV) “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Most of us know how to call on God in our distress. Psalm 120:1 says, “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me.” And He does answer — I’ve lived that mercy more times than I can count. When I was at the bottom, He heard me.
But somewhere along the way, God started teaching me a better question. Instead of only calling on Him in my distress, what if I brought Him into my decisions? The job, the relationship, the move, the yes and the no — what if He was consulted before the choice, not just cried out to after the consequences?
That’s what “in all your ways acknowledge him” means. Not just the church ways. Not just the crisis ways. All your ways. The everyday decisions that quietly steer a life. Acknowledge Him there, and the promise is straight paths — not easy paths, not painless ones, but paths He’s directing.
I’ll be honest: leaning on my own understanding built most of the wreckage in my story. My understanding said I could handle it. My understanding said one more time wouldn’t hurt. Trusting in the Lord with all my heart is slower. It asks. It waits. It listens. But it has never once led me where His mercy couldn’t keep me.
So before you decide today — the big thing and the small thing — stop and acknowledge Him. Ask. He is not bothered by your asking. He is honored by it. And the God who answered you in your distress would love to walk with you before it.
Lord, forgive me for the times I only ran to You after my own choices fell apart. Teach me to bring You into my decisions — all of them. I trust You with my whole heart; make my paths straight. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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