I freely admit that I prefer reading the New Testament over the Old Testament. I know it is important to understand the history of the Old Testament, as it prepares the way for us to experience the birth, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, it doesn’t speak to me as the New Testament does. . .except for Psalms and Proverbs. To me the words of these two books are beautiful in their praise and expressions of the human condition, and they give us words to live by. Proverbs is considered a “wisdom” book, providing guidance for living a good life. However, Proverbs do not provide promises. “If you do this, then this will happen.” No, rather, if you do this, you have a better chance of experiencing fulfillment and happiness. There is no guarantee that our paths will be straight if we trust in the Lord, but relying on our own knowledge and understanding is definitely a more hazardous path.

Is there a time when all you could do is trust in the Lord? Some circumstance that you could not see around or past? A time of confusion, sadness and darkness? Unless you have led an exceptionally unusual life, then we can all answer yes to those questions. For me, a recent time in my life that I felt this way was my husband’s diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. I wanted to believe that he would beat the odds and survive longer than a few months, but in my heart of hearts I knew that our time together was going to be short. When he passed away four months later, I could not conceive of a path forward without him. I could not see a future with any joy in it, although we had talked extensively about my going forward with plans we had made together. I trusted the Lord to guide me because I had to. Now a little over a year later, I can look back and see that, although the path was quite crooked and still filled with uncertainty, the Lord did guide me. It wasn’t a straight path, but it led me to where I am today, trusting the Lord to continue to guide me and able to honor my husband’s memory by living a meaningful, happy life. To me, these verses in Proverbs lead directly to Jesus’ promise as he ascended into heaven: “. . .and remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Thank you God for your guidance and wisdom in the Book of Proverbs, your assurance that relying on you is always the best choice. Even more, thank you for the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of your son Jesus Christ, whose last promise assures us that we will never be alone, no matter our circumstances. He will always be with us. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Pat Scruggs.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

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First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.