Day 24: Acknowledging God

Let’s continue studying Proverbs 3:5‑6, which contains a wonderful promise:

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (NIV)

We have seen that the first two conditions to be certain that God will "make our paths straight" are first, to trust Him, and second, to not lean on our own understanding.

The third condition here in Proverbs 3 is "in all your ways acknowledge Him". What does that mean? That at any given moment, in any given situation, time or place, when you want to acknowledge God, you stop and say, "God, I thank You for Your faithfulness to me. I thank You for all the good You have already done for me. I thank You for the way You proved Yourself in so many situations and circumstances in my life. You have brought me this far, and I trust You to continue to lead me." That is to acknowledge God in all your ways.

I remember in 1964 I resigned from a rather secure pastorate that I held in a city in the Pacific Northwest and I committed myself to become an itinerant minister without any fixed salary or any fixed place of abode, no capital – not even a car of my own. A wife and children to support, and yet I knew that God was thrusting me out into this new ministry. And as I was waiting upon God and seeking Him for some form of security in this new ministry, God gave me this Scripture that I have just been quoting: "In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths" (KJV). I want to testify that I have proved that true in all the years that have intervened. I have proved the truth of this beautiful Scripture: "In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths."

Every time you come to a turning point or choice of a way in your life, pause and begin to acknowledge God. Thank Him for all He has already done for you, for all His faithfulness, for the way He has answered so many prayers and solved so many problems in the past. And then, having acknowledged Him, just go on trusting Him to be as faithful in the future as He has been in the past. Know that He will direct your path.