Why Should I Lean On God’s Understanding?

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” – Proverbs 3:5

Do you ever see a bible scripture and think ‘but why!?’. Why shouldn’t we lean on our understanding? Is our understanding bad? I spent time wondering what the difference is between our human understanding and God’s understanding and I came up with these comparisons:

As human beings we can get stressy at times but God doesn’t.

When we are stressed sometimes we can panic and make quick irrational decisions. God doesn’t get stressed and therefore his decisions concerning our lives are always good. In fact, in the bible it says “Cast your anxiety on to him because he cares for you” -1 Peter 5:7. Therefore, when we are anxious we can trust in him to make us less anxious and to make things work for our good, so we lean not on our understanding, but on God’s!

Our understanding is limited compared to God.

Even the wisest or smartest person on earth cannot compare to God. In James 1:5 it says “If any of you lack wisdom you should ask God'” This scripture tells us that God is the one with all the wisdom, so we go to Him to get it. It also says in Proverbs 2:6 “For the Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding”. I don’t know about you but reading these verses alone makes me rather trust in God than on my own understanding, because he has all wisdom, knowledge and understanding!

We don’t know the future only God does.

“My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” – Psalm 121:2. Leaning our own human understanding is like going on a treasure hunt without a map. You’re likely to get a bit lost! God is the creator of the whole world and everything in it, we should look to him for our direction and guidance, He will keep us on the path intended for us!

For me, leaning on God’s understanding is all about submitting my ways to him. It’s not about trying to figure out every piece of the puzzle using my understanding but letting the puzzle maker (God) help me to figure it out, bit by bit!