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Paul Bayne
There are two major foundational truths that we must accept as Christians and they are the complete sovereignty of God over good and evil and that Jesus is the ONLY way to salvation. We are told over and again that God controls and guides us in our daily life and we as humans, usually go kicking and screaming. Very rarely do we ever go, counting it all joy, unless everything is going smashingly for us. But we are to recognize this power and authority over our lives and humbly submit to it, regardless where it leads us. Acts 14. 22 tells us that we will endure many trials on the way to heaven. The Christian life is rarely easy. So in order to glorify God in our daily lives, we are told to do all things for His glory without complaining. Therefore, we acknowledge that in the good and the bad, we declare in humility and worship that God is supreme and He receives glory out of this attitude. Proverbs 16 shows us that God is sovereign over our words, thoughts and deeds, right down to the rolling of the dice, as it were. If we humbly acknowledge this and give Him the credit and glory He deserves then we, in essence acknowledge Him in all our ways, and He will be your Shepherd and guide you in the paths of righteousness and goodness, even if it is a hard and rocky road. Pslam 23 tells us also that when we do travel through the valley of shadow of death, He goes with us. Jesus Christ Himself goes through the very trials we go through to guide, provide, protect and/or discipline. We never are alone, He is always with us and He will never leave us to our own devices.
Jack Gutknecht
What does it mean to acknowledge God in all your ways and He will make your paths straight? Good question! "To acknowledge God" means in the Hebrew “know him.” The verb יָדַע (yadah, “to know”) includes mental awareness of who God is and the consequential submission to his lordship. To know him is to obey him. The sage is calling for a life of trust and obedience in which the disciple sees the Lord in every event and relies on him. To acknowledge the Lord in every event means trusting and obeying him for guidance in right conduct. Bible.org If we allow the Lord to "make our paths straight," in my opinion, they will be paths of peace (otherwise our pain increases), paths of truth (otherwise we do foolish things), and paths of right (otherwise we stumble as in the dark night).
Tim Maas
The verse cited in the question is Proverbs 3:6. The verse immediately prior to it (Proverbs 3:5) says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding." To me, this indicates that, if an individual is exercising such trust (based on knowledge of God's revealed word, as well as awareness of how God may be communicating with the person through events in the person's life), then that person's decisions will be guided in such a way that will be for the person's ultimate benefit.
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