Trust In The LORD
With All Your
Heart
My child,
do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for
length of days and years of life and abundant welfare they will give you.
Do not let loyalty and
faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute
in the sight of God and of people.
Trust in the LORD with all
your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge
him, and he will make straight your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be a healing for your flesh and
a refreshment for your body.
Proverbs
3:1-8
The day before his 52nd
birthday Abraham Lincoln left Springfield, Illinois to become President of the
United States. With the threat of civil war looming, he said goodbye to his
friends and neighbors. He did not know if he would return from his task. He
made the following comments on that date: “Without the assistance of the Divine
Being who attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail.
Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for
good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending
you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate
farewell.”
Lincoln’s reliance on God
for guidance and strength reflects the instruction of Solomon: “Trust in the
LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your
ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
On this 200th anniversary
of Lincoln’s birth, we celebrate his kindness, integrity, and courage. And we
can also learn from him how to face a daunting future with confident hope in
the Lord.
Living
without trust in God is like driving in the fog.
Our Daily Bread – February 12, 2009