From Self-Reliance to Trust by David Speer
One of the first verses I ever memorized as a young Royal Ranger was Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." I'm sure that many of you memorized the same verse early in your journey with the Lord. However, more times than I would like to admit, I have trusted in my own ability and leaned on my own understanding.
Just like I did as a young Royal Ranger, King Hezekiah started out well. 1 Kings 18 says this about him: "Hezekiah trusted the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time. He remained faithful to the Lord in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the Lord had given Moses. So the Lord was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did." But when he and his kingdom were threatened with destruction by the armies of Assyria, he sent emissaries to make a treaty with Egypt and purchase horses and chariots. In a time of testing, he trusted in human strength and ingenuity to protect him (Isaiah 30).
If, like Hezekiah, you find yourself off on your own, Isaiah 30:15 shows us the path home. This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says: "Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength."
In Isaiah 37, we read that Hezekiah listened to the warning of the prophets. Even though he could not see how God was going to protect them from the army of King Sennacherib, he chose to put his trust in the Lord instead of figuring it out himself (Isaiah 37). The result? "That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there." (Isaiah 37:36-37)
If you find yourself in a difficult situation and cannot see a way forward and are tempted to respond from your own abilities, choose the path of quiet, confident trust. I want to leave you with this thought from Isaiah 30;19, 21: "He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries...Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, 'This is the way you should go,' whether to the right or to the left."
