GOD DIRECTS OUR LIVES
“The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits. Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.” Proverbs 16:1-3
How is it that God influences our lives? How involved is He in the minute details of our daily affairs? According to our text, the Lord is interested in more of our activity than one might realize. He is able to influence our thoughts, our plans, and our words. The mental processes of our hearts are within the realm of God’s activity. According to the middle sentence of our Scripture, even though all our paths may be pure in our own eyes, He can weigh or arrange our spirits.
This is an important concept to grasp. Many seem to have the idea that God is not really all that concerned with the particular details of our lives, only its general direction. This is not the case. He is all-seeing and all-knowing, and there are no parts of our journey, no matter how seemingly insignificant, from which He wants to be excluded. This is wonderful news to the person who recognizes the need for God’s continual guidance.
Not only is God capable of directing us in the most personal and practical parts of our existence, but we can also be certain that He desires to do this. He wants to bear influence on our thoughts and plans. He wants to direct our paths. He wants to lead us toward the proper attitudes and decisions. He wants to guide us daily. As our Shepherd, He leads His sheep.
What is our role or responsibility in experiencing such divine influence in our lives? The third verse says, “Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.” We are to consciously trust the Lord to guide us and influence us, even in our thinking. The word “commit” could be described as rolling our plans or projects over on Him. As we give Him our ideas or our purposes, He in turn influences our thoughts.
As we so often find in the Scripture, God works through the faith of His children. He wants us to trust Him, even with the smallest of things. Most of us realize that we have the tendency to bring our urgent and more pressing needs to the Lord, but we neglect to involve Him in the minor details of our days. This wisdom from God’s Word should motivate us to look to Him frequently for His wisdom and guidance.