Our Solution or His?

Our Solution or His?

Have you ever had a problem, and tried every solution you could think of to fix it, and then, as a last resort, asked God for help? We all have because we want to be the one to fix them.

This is a simple example, but one time my mother-in-law misplaced her wallet. She looked everywhere and was convinced that she had left it somewhere, so she was going to call and cancel all her cards and get new ones issued. She let us know what was going on because she needed cash to get something. So, we gave her the cash, but while she was gone, I decided that I was going to look for her wallet.

I stepped into her house and prayed, “Lord, lead me to her wallet. Open my eyes to know where it is.” I walked right over to her desk, moved some papers, and there it was.

We think we have tried all things, but we haven’t — we just think about God helping us last.

The classic scripture of Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

It’s a simple reminder that God is the one who can help us. We don’t understand why we have done everything and nothing has worked. That is because God wants us to fully depend on Him. He wants us to come to Him and ask Him for His solution because we try all of ours and fail. Once we come to this realization, we then understand why our way didn’t work.

There will be times when our solution does work, but that doesn’t mean it was the right solution.

One time, I tried to will something on my own. I liked to be in control, and if I knew that my way would work and I would get what I want, then it must be right. I can’t tell you how many times things backfired with this thought process. I always ended up having to backtrack, fix things, and apologize because of my mistake.

Once we learn that our dependence should be on God and not our own will, life changes dramatically.

God’s solutions and answers are always going to be better than our own. We do make choices every day, and sometimes everything goes well, but with God guiding us, we can rest assured that with Him we will be good no matter what happens.

Do you know that God goes before us and makes a way?

Psalm 32:8 says, The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.”

When there seems to be no way and we are faced with impossibilities, we need to turn to God, not our own solutions, because God is the only One who makes the impossible possible. He has a path laid out and all we have to do is ask Him to lead us and then trust Him to do just that.

Trust in the Lord; don’t depend on your own understanding. Seek His will because it is greater than anything you can imagine or think. He has a path laid out for you, and He will guide you along that path when you seek and depend on Him.

Our own solutions and thoughts can pull us away from the truth of what God is wanting to show us. So, as you go about life and find yourself struggling to make decisions or get out your own head about things, remember that God's way is to lead us calmly and with grace.

Personally, I would prefer the calm and gracious way over something stressful.

Seek God first.