Surrender is Strength

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Gentlemen, every day is a battle. A battle for your faith, your family, and your purpose. The men who stand strong don't prepare when the battle arrives. They prepare before it begins. Welcome to the men's morning devotional. Let's get into God's word. It's time to man up.

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Welcome back to the men's morning devotional. My name is Chris Luina, and it is my privilege to continue with you in the book of Proverbs. We're in Proverbs chapter 3 today. Now, I don't have time to go through the whole chapter. I'll just kind of dissect one verse with you, and I hope you are following along with me. So one of the hardest things for men to do is to surrender control, right? Men kind of we want control. We want to know what's going on. We want to have a plan. Today, Solomon shows us what real trust looks like. Now, the strongest men aren't the ones who control everything. They're the ones who trust God with everything. So let's dive in. Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5 and 6, and I can say this verse by memory. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your path straight. Most men have a plan. We want answers. We want certainty. We want control. We want to know what our day looks like. We want to know what our budget looks like. We just we want that control in our lives. We're kind of wired that way. But life doesn't always work that way. And God rarely works that way, from my experience. Sometimes God asks us to trust him before he explains himself. And he does this on purpose. Okay? This verse doesn't tell us to trust God when everything makes sense. That would be easy. It tells us to trust him with all of our heart, even when it doesn't. When we lean on our own understanding, we're limited in what we can see. We're limited on our own, maybe small experience. But when we trust God, we're trusting the one who sees the entire picture. I heard someone once say, God is a master strategist, and you better believe he has a plan. He has a strategy for your life. Your circumstances have not caught God by surprise. Because in the same way that we're wired to want to have a plan, well, we were created in God's image. So God has a plan. Alright? Real faith isn't knowing every step ahead. Real faith is taking the next step because God said so. And the promise is clear. When we acknowledge Him in all of our ways, He directs our paths. Now I really love this verse. Like I said in the beginning, I have this verse memorized, and I would encourage you to memorize it yourself. It has served to reassure me of God's plan in the midst of unclear times in my own personal life. It gives me direction on what to do when I don't know what to do. I encourage you, please memorize this verse. Write it down somewhere on a sticky note. Put it on the mirror in your bathroom. Put it on your car somewhere. Write it down where you will be able to see it every day. And I assure you, it will help you get through times when you do not see the end line or you do not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just having this verse memorized. And scripture has a bunch of verses like this. It's not just this one, related to God directing our steps or his guidance. But this one's one of my favorites. So your man up challenge for today is this identify one area where you've been trying to stay in control. Pray specifically and surrender that situation to God today. And then a bonus man up challenge would be memorize this verse. So, closing in prayer, Father, help me to trust you completely. Help me to rely on your wisdom and not my own understanding. Lead my steps and direct my path. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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All right, gentlemen, you've heard God's word. Now go live it. Lead well. Stay strong. Honor God in everything you do. Share this devotional with another brother, and we'll see you tomorrow morning. Remember, every day is another opportunity to man up.