A few weeks ago I woke up, feeling oppressed and downright needy. I began crying out to the Lord, asking Him to help me for the umpteenth time, it seemed. My spirit knew He was helping, but my soul sure seemed to need some outward manifestation! As I was talking with Him, He gave me a picture. It was a picture of me, complete with bathrobe, walking across our bedroom floor leaning on the Lord. I was leaning on Him as if I had absolutely no strength of my own, as if I were ill or disabled. He said, “Just lean on me”. I asked Him, “is it ok to lean that much?” Is this really how much it is ok for us to lean on you?” He said, “Yes”.
It was almost too incredible to believe. God longs for me to lean on Him. He wants me to lean on Him, and the more I lean the better He likes it! Slowly the swirling thoughts began to recede; the peace and presence of the Lord grew. I began to talk with Him about the various areas with a heartfelt trust that it was really ok to get specific and ask Him what to do about all these issues. I consider myself a person of prayer, and a person who brings a lot of details to the Lord, but this was a new level of honesty and reality with the Lord. It was so restorative to my soul.

But, also, as great as that time of honesty and leaning felt, to my surprise the question I had to answer in my own soul—was, how far and to what capacity was I in reality willing to “lean on Him”? In the picture, I was so very weak, I wasn’t sure I really wanted to live in that state, to admit that I was that “needy” was indeed, humbling.
In December, I had a first hand lesson opportunity to learn about leaning. During an exercise session at Curves fitness center, I mis-stepped and fell, twisting my ankle. In the end, it wasn’t too serious, but it was extremely painful at the time. Of course, the attendant rushed over and right after my fall, my friend, Karen came in. Karen is a dear friend from church. She came right over and of course began to pray. I thought I was ok—but when I went to get up, I couldn’t put any weight on my foot. Karen and Michael (the attendant) along with the owner’s husband, supported me so I could make it a nearby couch. I was embarrassed and foolishly tried to do as much myself as I could, I didn’t want to lean on them. Of course the owner and attendant were concerned for my welfare as well as their store, while Karen was concerned for me as a friend and sister in the Lord. She set herself to allow me to lean on her. She re-arranged her plans, putting herself at my disposal. She drove me home after she had purchased a support bandage for my ankle. She helped me to the car and into the house. I needed to lean on her to do what I usually do with ease. She even brought dinner over later and called to check on me. Because I chose to lean on the information of those wiser than myself, I was able to use my foot much more quickly than if I had stubbornly said “I am ok, I can do it”. I felt I could have driven myself home because it wasn’t too far. Karen wisely commented—what if you have to stop quickly? I had not considered the risk I might have been to others in my attempt to avoid leaning on her.

Proverbs 3:5 instructs us to : 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.
Learning to lean NOT on your own understanding is not as simple as leaning on someone physically. The Hebrew word used here for “lean” is sha`an, and it means to lean on, trust in, support, lean upon, support oneself as using a cane or staff. As we practice acknowledging Him, our paths shall be directed. We have to overcome the pride of independence and acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers nor do we know the best paths. Most of you know these scriptures by heart—but do you apply them in your day to day life?

We are given many examples in the Word where people judged the situation after their own thoughts. Sarai, in Genesis 16, persuaded Abram to take Hagar as his second wife to fulfill God’s promise of a child and we are still dealing with the consequences in the Middle East. Joshua was fooled by the Gibeonites and the children of Israel paid the price for a long time (Joshua 9). King Asa in 2 Chronicles 14-16 gives us the example of a man who started off trusting the Lord and leaning on His understanding, but wound up trusting in himself. Many times as young ones in the Lord we are aware of our need to rely on Him, but as we mature we may think we have it all together, and end up relying on our own partial insights rather than His.

We are also given marvelous examples of those who had the grace to rely on God rather than trust their own thoughts. Samuel was given the duty to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be king. By following God’s direction, he wisely chose the youngest son who had a heart after the Lord, rather than the eldest who would have been the most natural choice. Paul, in the New Testament, paid heed to the Holy Spirit’s promptings stayed out of Asia, and in turn heard the call to Macedonia while he was in Troas. We don’t know why he was forbidden to preach there, but we do know that he listened and obeyed.

Leaning on God’s understanding will always bring us to a place of potential. But it begins with ourselves acknowledging that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. Isaiah 55:8 declares: 8 “My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. This is a common scripture, but it is not so common to find people who are truly seeking the thoughts and ways of the Lord. How many of us can really say we comprehend how much different God’s thoughts are to our own? Do we openly acknowledge it, but inwardly believe that our thoughts are somewhat close to God’s thoughts? In order to lean on Him, we must settle within our own selves that He is God and we are not. We may not be the ruler of a nation as King Asa, but we each influence those around us. We influence our families, our friends, our neighbors and any ministry positions that we have. Learning to stop and seek the Lord for His viewpoint is critical to good leadership.

Proverbs 3:5 begins with the statement: Trust in the Lord. This is crucial if we are going to be able to do the next part. We must continue to increase our trust in our God. In the deepest recesses of your soul, do you trust Him? Do you believe that He has wisdom to impart? Do you believe that He can give you insights and perspectives on how to be a better leader, a better employer, a better employee, a better wife, a better mother? He can give insight on how to budget and increase your finances.

What do you do to “trust the Lord, and lean not to your own understanding?”

• Humble yourself. Let go of your wisdom and seek His.
• Practice the Lean, Don’t give up! It will feel uncomfortable at first.
• Ask Him to convict you when you are discerning things from your fleshly viewpoint.
• Respond when you feel conviction.
• Stay immersed in His Word, for it is the revelation of His thoughts
• Listen and obey the still small voice that speaks to your hearts
• Accept the fact that others may not agree
• Be careful not to judge others actions too quickly.
• Nothing is too small to talk to Him about
• Expect Him to give you the direction and wisdom you need. Release your Faith!
• If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:5-6
• It takes time to ask for wisdom, but it will be well worth the investment.

Father, I thank you for helping us learn to lean on you, in all our ways. You desire it! Written by:Martha Rodman