Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. [6] In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Each day we are required to make many decisions. Hopefully, our desire is to make decisions that are pleasing to God and fulfill His will and purpose for our lives. How do we go about making wise decisions? Over the years I have leaned on the wisdom packed into these two short verses.

The first key to making wise decisions is to trust God completely. He delights in giving us guidance and direction. He wants us know to know His will and purpose more than we desire to know them. Bit if we fail to trust God, for whatever reason, we will not be blessed with His guidance. Remember, He reserves His wisdom and guidance for those who seek Him. If we truly trust God, we will ask Him for wisdom, wait for his answer and refuse to develop an alternate plan.

This leads to the second key for making wise decisions. Do not lean on your own understanding! I cannot emphasize this point enough. God is omniscient and we are not. In other words, He knows everything and we know very little. So does it make sense to depend on our own limited understanding when we know the One who knows everything? Folks, leaning on our minute understanding is what gets us into trouble! Think of the number foolish decisions you have made because you chose to depend on your own wisdom rather than God’s. Ouch!!

The third key to making wise decisions is to acknowledge God in all your ways. Another way of communication this would be to say, “be so intimate with God that you talk to Him about even the smallest details of your life and then submit to His will.” No detail of you life is too small for God’s concern!

If you’ll apply these three keys, then you can count on the promise contained in these verses: He will make your paths straight. God will remove the obstacles, make a smooth path and bring us to the appointed destination. I like what Eric Lane says about this promise:

Most people would give a lot to be sure of this. For us creatures of time the future is at once a reality and an uncertainty. We know there is a future but we don't know what it holds. God offers us a future in which we can see our way ahead clearly, like a straight road with no obstacles to hinder us (cf. v.23, 4:11f). This may sound too good to be true — like an offer of infallible foresight combined with a cosmic bulldozer to cut out all the corners and flatten all the bumps. This is not what it means or even says, for it is he (God) who makes our path straight. A path is only a way to a destination. Our destination is sure — final glory, to which we are predestined’ (Rom. 8:29). It is what happens on the way that is uncertain. The bus to London has its destination on the front, but what sort of journey will it be?

A journey is marked by many decisions along the way. I urge to trust God for the wisdom to make each one!