I. DO NOT RELY ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING
Proverbs 3:5-6 ~Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths
When the Bible tells us in this verse not to lean on our own understanding, it is not encouraging us to be irrational. The Bible puts up no wall of separation between our intellect and faith. In fact, the book of Proverbs speaks very highly of understanding:
Incline your heart to understanding – Proverbs 2:2; Raise your voice to understanding – Proverbs 2:3; Understanding will guard you – Proverbs 2:1; Blessed is one who…gets understanding – Proverbs 3:13; Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding – Proverbs 14:33; The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge – Proverbs 15:14; To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver – Proverbs 16:16; Buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding – Proverbs 23:23
So, if we’re supposed to get understanding, why are we not supposed to lean on it? It’s not all understanding we are not supposed to lean on its only our OWN UNDERSTANDING that is the problem. Our “OWN UNDERSTANDING,” meaning the conclusions we make based primarily on our own perceptions – things we can see, hear, or become aware of through the senses. This is because our own understanding simply will not bear the full weight of reality of who God is and what He has done. It was never intended to.
II. BACK TO THE GARDEN
The one tree in the garden that humans were forbidden to eat from was not, interestingly, the tree of life. It was not life that God denied human beings. He forbade them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:8-9 ~ The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:15-18 ~ Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
God protected Adam by giving him the command to never eat from tree of knowledge because God knew that if Adam ate from that tree then his eyes would open up to evil and he would then know evil and that evil would blind Adam into not knowing and understanding who God is.
It as if God was saying: Do not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil because when you do you will have a different view of me and you will not be able to understand me. You will know evil. This command will protect you from evil. You will be separated from me because sin and evil cannot dwell with Me. In your separation from me you will die!
Genesis 3:6-8 ~ So, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Immediately upon eating the fruit, they lost their understanding of who God is. He was their Father and they were created to be in His presence and now they were hiding from Him. They had forgotten they were in a loving relationship with a loving Father.
You see, in order to handle the knowledge of good and evil, one must possess OMNISCIENCE or the state of knowing everything. The ability to completely comprehend all possible options and contingencies. There is a saying, ‘You don’t know what you don’t know” Adam and Eve were not created to know everything for a reason. God did not want them to know evil only to know good. The enemy tempted Eve in this by telling her that if she ate the fruit of tree of knowledge of good and evil she would be like God knowing everything. Eve did not realize that it was not good for her to know everything because there was something that would destroy she and Adam and that something was evil. The evil would change their understanding of who God is and the sin would separate them from Him.
Genesis 3:1-5 ~ Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
In their sin and disobedience Adam and Eve’s minds became carnal. Carnal – relating to the physical. Their minds became focused on the physical and not the spiritual and we know God is a Spirit. They no longer can see God for who He truly is.
Romans 8:5-11 ~ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
The soul is made up of three things: Mind, Will and Emotions
Proverbs 2:10 gives us the spiritual ground to prove that the mind is a part of the soul. This verse says, “Wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.” Because knowledge is a matter of the mind, this proves that the mind is a part of the soul. Proverbs 19:21 and 24:14 also indicate that knowledge and wisdom are related to the soul. In addition, Psalm 139:14 says, “My soul knows it well.” Since to know is a matter of the mind, this also proves that the mind must be a part of the soul. Psalm 13:2 speaks of bearing concern in the soul. This concern must be something considered in the mind. Lamentations 3:20 says, “My soul remembers them well,” indicating that the soul can remember things. By these verses we can be clear that the mind as the organ to know, to consider, and to remember is a part of the soul.
When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the evil they consumed darkened their souls, darkened their minds and blinded their understanding and we inherited this condition from them called the fallen state of man.
IN ROMANS 8 IT SAYS WE NEED TO BE SPIRITUALLY MINDED AND THE ONLY WAY TO BE SPIRITUALLY MINDED IS FOR GOD’S SPIRIT TO DWELL IN YOU AND THE ONLY WAY FOR GOD’S SPIRIT TO DWELL IN YOU IS TO BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, REPENT AND TURN AWAY FROM YOUR SINS, BE BAPTIZED IN JESUS NAME FOR THE REMISSION OF THOSE SINS AND TO BE FILLED WITH THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST WITH THE EVIDENCE OF SPEAKING IN TONGUES.
What this means is that it is insane to trust such pitifully limited understanding darkened by the knowledge of evil when one can trust the unlimited understanding of God only through Jesus Christ.
OUR MINDS ARE BROKEN: IT DOESN’T TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO SEE THAT. LOOK AT US! LOOK AT WHERE OUR OWN UNDERSTANDING HAS GOTTEN US! WE NEED TO STOP THE INSANITY OF TRUSTING IN OURSELVES AND WE NEED TO SURRENDER TO JESUS CHRIST AND TRUST IN HIM WHO IS ALL KNOWING! WE CAN ONLY BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND GOD WHEN WE HAVE HIS SPIRIT DWELLING IN US!
2 Corinthians 2:10-16 ~ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
III. TRUSTING THE LORD
So many of the things that cause us the most difficulty and heartache in life, the source of so much of our anxiety, fear, doubt, and anger with others and with God, is the result of leaning on our own understanding. God does not want us to be miserable, even in this fallen, futility-infected evil age. He wants to relieve our anxiety. He wants us to Trust Him and rely on Him for our physical, emotional and spiritual needs.
Luke 12:11-12 ~ “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Philippians 4:6-7 ~ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Psalm 118:6 ~ The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
Matthew 21:21-22 ~ So, Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
PROVERBS 3:5-6 IS A PRECIOUS GIFT TO US!
~ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths
DON’T YOU WANT YOUR PATHS TO BE STRAIGHT. DON’T YOU WANT TO KNOW A BETTER WAY. DON’T YOU WANT TO KNOW GOD FOR WHO HE TRULY IS. DON’T YOU WANT TO KNOW THE SAVIOR OF YOUR SOULS AND THAT INCLUDES YOUR MINDS. JESUS CAME FOR YOU, JESUS IS CALLING YOU TO HIM NOW. THE ONLY WAY TO UNDERSTANDING GOD IS BY GIVING YOURSELF FULLY TO JESUS CHRIST WHO IS GOD IN THE FLESH.
GOD CAME HIMSELF TO UNDO AND MAKE GOOD AGAIN WHAT WE DESTROYED THROUGH SIN…
Roman 5:12-19 ~ Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to man and the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many [offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s [g]offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 5:20-34 ~ But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead? And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS BELIEVING IN JESUS CHRIST