THINK TOGETHER.
Can you name a rule that you obey but you don’t understand?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 3:5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
The opposite (do you know what opposites are) of trusting in God with your whole heart is to lean on your own understanding. To lean on your own understanding means that you are trusting your own limited knowledge and then trying to make decisions from that limited knowledge. And that’s not wise.
When you are young you don’t understand all the things that might be bad for you – bad foods, bad choices, bad friends. You might even get mad at mom or dad when they try to keep bad things away from you. They say that you don’t need another donut, or more toys, or to go to that sleepover because they know that those things might not be best for you right now. As you get older and wiser you will understand more and more what is good, better, and best.
And here’s a warning: The world we live in thinks that leaning on your own understanding is the best thing you can do. You might hear someone say that you have to “follow your heart,” or “believe in yourself,” or “live your truth.” But that is actually a very foolish way to live because it assumes that you know more than everyone else, including God.
Jesus wants us to follow him, trust him, and lean on him. This doesn’t mean that we can’t ever ask questions, but it does mean that when we don’t understand why Jesus asks us to do something we should do it anyway because we trust that he knows way more about everything than we do. And we trust that he will only ask us to do what is best for us. How do we know? Because he did what is best for us when he died on the cross.
Because of Jesus we know we can lean on God and not ourselves.
With Jesus we can trust God even when we don’t understand.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Talk through with your kids any rules that they don’t understand. Help them see that they might not understand everything God says but they can still trust him.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, help me to lean on you and not my own limited understanding. Amen.
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