Verse of the Day for May 19

Most of us read this verse looking for new directions. But it begins with the ways you are already walking. In all thy ways acknowledge him. The roads under your feet right now.

To acknowledge him is more than nodding in his direction. The Hebrew word is the ordinary word for knowing. Know him in your ways. Know him at the sink, in the accounts, in the conversation with your teenage son.

Verse five does not tell you to throw away your understanding. It says lean not unto thine own understanding. You still think, plan and reason. You just stop resting your full weight on it, the way you would stop leaning on a cracked wall.

Verse seven adds the warning that keeps this from turning into pride. Be not wise in thine own eyes. The person who already has plenty, skills, education, experience, is the one most likely to lean on it.

So before asking God for something new, look at what you already hold. The job you have, the family you have, the street you live on. Acknowledge him there. That is often where the direction comes from.

Direction often comes after acknowledgement, not before it.

Use your understanding, just do not lean your whole weight on it.