My Own Opinions
Proverbs 3:5 TPT
Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on Him to guide you.
The classic writer, Hannah Whitehall Smith wrote, “Mind the checks.” So many times I have remembered these words of wisdom. They have saved us from many disastrous events. For example, we were in Kenya where a wonderful team of skilled workers had helped to drill a well for the Mt. Moriah Children’s Home. It was a great experience seeing the water come rushing up powerfully out of the ground, an unusual happening for Kenya. We all shouted loudly and danced around hugging each other, celebrating the goodness of the Lord.
We came down to the last day of our stay at the Home. The team was packing and getting ready to depart the next day for a time of sightseeing and shopping in Nairobi where there was so much to see and experience. We were all looking forward to the elephant and giraffe orphanages where these beautiful baby animals were rescued and cared for into their adulthood as well.
On the day of our departure, everyone was tying down luggage and settling in for the long ride into Nairobi, when out of the blue, my husband, Stephen announced to me and then to us all, that he felt he was not to leave with the team but stay another day. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I so was looking forward to a fun time after lots of days of hard work. Nothing could persuade him to change his mind. He was minding “the check” he had in his spirit. Our main well driller from New York, Cliffy, decided he would be staying with the boss as well to see what was going on. Everyone left but us. Sure enough, within a few hours of their departure, the pump that was pulling the water from the newly dug well stopped running. Wow! God knew this pump was going to blow. To make a long story short, we were able with the help of knowledgeable Kenyan pump people, to purchase another larger pump and install it within the hours we had left in the country. How good our God is! We could have lost all of the goodness from the new well if it had been left unattended with no functioning pump. My opinion of wanting to leave for a day of relaxation with precious friends seemed far more important than Stephen’s sense that God wanted us to stay. How wrong I was!
We can trust the Lord. Our opinions are just that, opinions. Our verse says, “With all your heart rely on Him to guide you.” We can’t pick and choose when we will trust Him and when we will not. This is what Jesus meant when He said He would abide with us and in us if we will abide in Him. We must learn to always keep the Lord before us, in the good and in the difficult times. He can always, always be trusted.
What about you? Are you trusting the Lord completely? Do you bring all of your decisions before Him or are you too busy and caught up in your opinions, making up your own mind and making your own choices? I challenge you today to lay everything, every decision on the altar before Him and seek His will and direction for absolutely everything. He will never fail you.
