It’s 1:03 am and I was just thinking and reflecting on this verse. I know that as the school year winds down and many of my students ponder their uncertain futures, this time of life can present itself with a lot of anxiety. And often to calm people’s anxieties we “toss” Bible verses at them, or amusingly remark “that everything is going to work out okay.” This may all be true, but saying these things is different than being these things to people, or modeling these things to others.
Does that make sense? What good is it to throw a verse out there at someone if you are not “being” that verse if you will. What good is it to throw out your wisdom, without being a presence in that person’s life.
Proverbs 3:5-8 (NIV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
The beauty of trusting in the LORD is that we have a relationship with Him. Scripture does not throw out advice or truth in hopes that it may may “stick” and work on some people. Rather, Scripture is truth that is lived out in real life relationships with people.
Why am I ranting on this? As we approach the end of this school year, look around and think about those students who need your prayers, who need your time and presence. Rather than just throwing out some cliche like, “Don’t worry, everything works itself out”, why don’t you be that presence that helps others trust in the LORD….that presence that points to the power of Christ in your life.
I am learning a lot about this in counseling. When someone comes in the room and sits across from me they can immediately discern whether or not I am a calming and non-anxious presence…if I am not, the anxiety in the room increases…if I am, then they can relax and begin to trust the relationship that is forming between the client and the therapist.
I think the same goes with us and God at times. If others can sense a non-anxious presence and that we trust the LORD, then it allows others the desire to want to have that…to be in on that relationship. But if we as Christians present ourselves as always anxious and not trusting, then we nothing we say will impact the lives around us.
So for all my students and friends who find themselves at some difficult crossroads in life right now…I am praying for you. And I am praying that our relationship can be a model of what it looks like to trust in the LORD and allow Him to guide our path.
