Two weeks ago, I told you about my drive home from work and my encounter with the unfathomableness of God. Over these last 14 plus days, I have repeatedly come face to face with God’s unfathomableness, in good ways and hard ways. I recently jotted down the thought, life isn’t perfect, but we have a BIG God.
Three Truths in Proverbs Three
We have been looking at Proverbs 3:1-12. I told you I discovered three truths in this particular scripture. I believe these truths help us deal with the tension of wrapping our minds around the deep profoundness of God and His ways, even when life is far from ideal.
The first week we discussed the truth that our understanding is limited. We recognize the vastness of God’s knowledge and understanding, consequently we choose to submit to His wisdom. However, we struggle to obey. We must accept the reality we are created to rely on God; we are not designed to manage life on our own.
Last week, I wrote about the truth that we must trust God completely. I told you trust is tricky, and we tend to get in our own way when it comes to trusting. As a result, we must deal with the problem of longing to be in control.
The third and final truth from Proverbs three is honor God.
Truth: We Must Honor God
Allow me to first distinguish the difference between the second truth and the third truth. When we trust God, we respond to who God is. We see how wondrous He is and submit to His power, wisdom, and love for us. When we honor God, we offer Him something. Admittedly, while we don’t have anything God needs, we do have something God wants. God desires a relationship with us; He covets our worship.
Solomon presents two ways to honor God. First, we offer Him what we have (Proverbs 3:9-10). Second, we offer Him who we are (Proverbs 3:11-12).
Honor God with What You Possess
In most versions of the Bible, Proverbs 3:9a encourages us to honor the Lord with our wealth. Many of us immediately discount our ability to honor God in such a way because we don’t perceive we are wealthy. We view our finances through the filter of “just getting by” or “barely enough.”
We read the second half of Proverbs 3:9 where it talks about honoring God with “the first fruits of our crops,” and we discount ourselves again because we aren’t farmers. If God really wants the first zucchini from our garden, we are happy to comply! After reading several translations, and looking up a few Hebrew words, I learned the verse is most definitely applicable to us.
Solomon instructs us to honor God with whatever we possess. We tend to view our stuff as things we’ve earned. After all, we got up at the crack of dawn to go to work. We saved our pennies for that really cool item. We gave up treats, like lattes and ice cream, so we could afford a particular treasure. Somewhere along the way, we forget God is our provider. God provided the job, the ability to save, and the stamina to say no to our favorite guilty pleasure. God supplies whatever we possess, whatever is in our stash of “wealth.”
God is our Provider
Most of us don’t struggle too long with this concept because we read ahead to verse ten. Solomon seems to promise if we honor God with what He’s given us, He’ll give us more and in abundance. We must remember to read this scripture with the appropriate point of view. The Israelites weren’t thinking in terms of God blessing them so much they could buy yet another car, or a boat, or a 70” screen TV. God gives instructions in Leviticus 23 that gives us a glimpse into His heart.
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect.’’”
The Israelites were to bring the first sheaf and then offer a sacrifice. They declared God was their provider by their actions. He provided their food, and He provided a way for them to be holy and acceptable to Almighty God.
A Matter of Perspective
When we look at Proverbs 3:9-10, we must read them with the same filter the Israelites had in regard to God. God is. God provides. God must be revered and obeyed.
Solomon is not suggesting a trade-off arrangement. We don’t honor God by giving of our excess and then He multiplies what we have available to use. If we truly honor God, long to treat Him with reverence and offer Him a gift equal to His worth, then we must relinquish everything we have to Him.
I believe it’s a matter of perspective. When we see God as our provider and we desire to delight and honor Him out of gratitude, respect, and awe, He becomes our priority. The Spirit changes our mindset from craving more stuff, to longing to please God. God may provide more resources, but we aren’t focused on that. We are enthralled with crediting, appreciating, and admiring our Lord; we want only Him.
Honor God with Who You Are
After we honor God with what we have, we must learn to honor Him with who we are. In Proverbs 3:11-12, Solomon encourages us to gratefully accept whatever discipline God gives. He reminds us God corrects and rebukes only out of love, not anger or frustration.
I have never liked the word discipline. Most of us view the word negatively, but we can alter our perception. The word translated discipline in verse 12 means judge, rebuke, and reprove. The word also means to prove, decide, and correct.
An Appropriate View of Discipline
God moves and works in our lives to prove we are committed to Him, to generate proof we are like Jesus, acceptable and holy. He doesn’t judge us and throw us out as worthless. He doesn’t rebuke us because we messed up yet again. He corrects our behavior so that we align more with who He is and less with the world.
When we change our outlook on discipline, we discover it is easier to honor God and offer ourselves to Him. We may have limited understanding, but we trust God to form the best in us. We must accept the fact He will discipline us because we don’t have it all together. Someday, we will be like Him, and we will see Him as He fully is, but someday isn’t here yet. In the meantime, He is forming us.
God is unfathomable. He gives good gifts, and He allows horrible circumstances we can’t wrap our minds around. Our understanding is limited, but we were created to rely on a God who loves us without measure. We must learn to live in the sweet spot of trusting, responding to who He is and then honoring Him by offering Him all we have and all we are.
When we live into these three truths from Proverbs three, we ease the tension of our less-than-ideal lives. We place ourselves in a better space to learn more and grow our understanding. We place ourselves where we can experience how God teaches us, completes us, and abundantly blesses our lives with His presence. We place ourselves in a posture to honor the One who is gloriously unfathomable.
