Leaning

"Lean not upon you own understanding." Prov. 3:5

Have you ever thought you had a situation all figured out only to discover that there was more that you did not understand. I think everyone of us would raise our hand to that. I have been in a place before where I did not know what to do and I made a choice quickly and incorrectly. It was a moment when I had this incredible urge to "do" something because of the pressure of the moment. I leaned on my own understanding.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is found in II Samuel 5:17-25. David had just become King of Israel and the Philistines were gathering to attack him at Baal Perazim. David inquired of the Lord and said should I go up and attack them. God said - "Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you." David attacks and defeats the Philistines. The story goes on to say, "Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rehaim." v. 22 David once more inquires of God and God tells him to not go straight up but circle around behind and attack them in front of the Balsam trees. "As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the Balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean that the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army". v.24

I love the Story because of the unusual way that God "showed up". I wonder what David was thinking? Was he irritated with the heavenly plan? Were his men frustrated? (Maybe by this time his fighting men were growing accustomed to unusual behavior from their king.) I wonder if he was under pressure from them to just "go for it" after all they have defeated the Philistines many times before. Regardless - David leaned in on God with his faith that God would provide the means to victory. He chose to trust in a plan that he did not devise rather than move ahead of God with his own resources. David had a heart that would choose to do what God asked even if the men surrounding him - mighty men - put pressure on him to engage. This is what seperated David's kingship from them that were before him.

What does it mean to "lean"? My take on this phrase is to not put more trust in what you "think" and "see" than we do in our faith and trust in God. Leaning means trusting that what you lean against will stand firm - that it can support our need. Our Heavenly Father is the "Solid Rock" - does it not make sense that we can lean on Him and rest all our care upon Him?

I'm not ignoring that God expects us to use our minds to make good and right choices. However, when we get to the place of not knowing what to do where all we can do is "stand" we need to trust in God and lean in on Him - not on our finite understanding.

Mike

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