Trust the Boots

I used to never understand when people would say “Don’t do it in your own strength.” That used to really baffle me. I still don’t like the saying, because it’s a cliché and doesn’t really make sense when you say it as a one liner, but I’m starting to understand where they were coming from. The phrase needs a little explanation though.

OK, so I know I’m supposed to trust God and lean not on my own understanding. But does that mean I can’t use my own strength too? Does God want me to disengage my brain? That doesn’t make sense.

We were talking about this at home church last week, and my friend Kay had an illustration that helped me understand it a littler better.

She told us about a time when she went hiking in the mountains and was supplied with hiking boots especially designed to help you go down steep hills without falling on your face. The tendency when you are going downhill is to lean backwards to keep from falling, but with the boots, you suddenly have superhuman power to lean forward while walking downhill. That must be really cool. I’d like to try it sometime! The funny thing is, these silly folks still wanted to lean backwards. The instructor had to keep reminding them to “trust the boots,” and lean forward. See where I’m going with this?

Unless we are willing to lean hard into God, we are missing the whole point of his power in our lives. Of course we continue to use all of our own strength, meager as it is, but the direction of our lives depends on which way we lean.

Are you going to lean forward into the supernatural plans God has for your life, or are you too scared to take that risk of falling on your face?

“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 your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. “ (Proverbs 3:4-7)

“Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:5)

(originally posted in 2008)