June Devotional
by Eric Seaton

I have to break down things into their simplest form in order to get my mind to understand. Like fishing, what season is it, what is the water temperature, have we had a cold front, are the lake levels up or down, what color is the water, have I had any success here before at this time of year… and on, and on, and on. When I go fishing, I look at 2 or 3 components, and then go for it.

This is what I have to do with my spiritual life as well. To understand it all is impossible. There is a verse in the Bible that does this for me, Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths". This breaks it down for me.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart"

March devotional
May devotional

Second, it means that I need to bring every area of my life under His control. To trust Him with decisions, circumstances, problems - everything. To follow Him in total obedience, trusting Him completely.

"and lean not on your own understanding"
God created the universe - He knows what He is doing!! My brain is extremely limited where God's is infinite. If I had to wait until I fully understood something before I acted, I wouldn't do anything. (Especially fishing!!) We see things at the here and now, we may not understand why things happen the way the do, or why we are having to go through certain situations in our lives but, God knows and we are to lean on Him and his understanding, because our own will not give us answers.

"in all your ways acknowledge Him"
This can be as simple as giving God the credit when something happens in your life say… when you catch a 5.9-pound bass, or when He answers your prayers. At a deeper level, it is how you live your life. Do you live your life each and every day as a praise to God? I fall short of this at times and it is hard to maintain, but I think this is what God wants us to do. To live our lives as living examples of Him, His glory, and His love so that others can see Him.

"and He will make straight your paths"
This verse does not say "smooth", nor does it say "not bumpy"… there will be ups and downs in life and well as good and bad times. But, I think this is saying that the "straight path" is living in the will of God. There is a peace that comes when you know that you are where God wants you to be and that you are living the life He wants for you.

Just like we come up with a game plan for fishing a tournament, this verse sums up for me, a simple yet highly effective, game plan for life!!