#3 - Trust In the Lord & He Will Guide You - Pr. Oswell Dzvairo | Bible Study

We praise the Lord for another time that he has given us that we may praise him and worship him as we stud his word. Thank you so much uh Corans for the powerful music that you are giving us and we also want to thank God for the just ended lesson with pastor Malika. May God bless you. There is power in prayer. God is still at work in the life of his children. Before we begin our lesson this morning, may we bow down our heads for a word of prayer. Eternal Savior who is in heaven, we are grateful this morning for the privilege of life and also for the privilege of learning your word at this time as we have gathered here and some who are with us online. Lord Jesus, may you bless each one of us. We desire to gain wisdom from your word. Therefore Lord, we present ourselves before you in search for guidance and inspiration. Our desire is that your word may it transform us in how we relate with one another and also in how we relate with you. This is our prayer in Jesus name our Lord. Amen. Come meeting 2026 obey and live. We praise the Lord for such a powerful theme. Obey and live is a call to worship. It is a call to live life according to God's guidance and um expectations. Today we are looking at a lesson that is uh entitled trust in the Lord and he will guide you. Just now pastor Malika was talking about faith in God. Our prayers are supposed to be punctuated with faith. Faith is a noun. But the verb behind that noun is trust. Trust in the Lord always and the Lord will guide you. It is synonymous to say obey God and you live. Okay. Yes. The two phrases are similar in meaning though different in expression. Trust in the Lord and he will guide you. Human life usually it's punctuated with tragedies that sometimes we wonder where is God and where was God when this journey began in Proverbs 3:5-6. This is our point or our text of emphasis today. Yesterday we looked at Proverbs chapter 3 verse 3 and 4. The day before yesterday, we looked at Proverbs chapter 3 verse 1 and 2. I want us to notice something here. Proverbs chapter 3 verse one sets the condition. Verse two presents the outcome. In yesterday's submission or this lesson, verse three presents a condition. Verse four, the outcome. In today's lesson, verse five presents a condition. Verse five, verse six presents outcome. So verse one, verse three, verse five are conditions. Verse two, verse four, verse six are outcomes of these conditional promises. All these promises are informed by the spirit of obey and live which is our theme. Okay. So now we are looking at the third conditional statement which is found in verse 5 and verse six. What does what do they say? Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him. This is the condition. Okay. What is the outcome or the benefit or rationale behind this promise or condition? And he will make straight your paths. In other words, if you want your paths, your your ways, your initiatives, your dreams, your vision, your plans to succeed. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Trust. Trust God. Trust is not passive. It is active. Are we together? It's not a passive word that I I I trust. Blind. I trust. Uh-uh. It's an active verb. When you trust, surrender. Okay. Surren. In other words, the spirit behind this verb has to do with anchoring yourself for support. Trust is a verb. It means you are putting all your weight on something that you know whatever happens I know I am safe and then you put all your weight on something. That is what God expect each one of us to do as far as our plans of life in daily living is concerned. Now let's look uh at this text a conditional statement closely so that we may gain the wisdom behind it. Now this whole statement is packaged [clears throat] in an inverse order. Technically speaking when we are in class we call this inverse order a kayastic structure or a kayazm. Are we together? There is a flow of logic that is consistent and that is smart. You need to align the first statement with the last statement and the follow the second statement is related to the second statement from the last and the p of the statement or the the whole discourse or the whole thing is anchored at the center. Okay. This inverse order helps you to have an appreciation or a better understanding of the teaching that is presented by the wisdom teacher. Okay. So in this statement check and look closely on how the arrangement of ideas on this statement are is presented. Trust in the Lord is synonymous with acknowledging him with all your heart is also synonymous in all your ways. This whole thing, the pit of it is do not trust your understanding. That's the heart of this whole thing. Do not lean on your own understanding. Do not put confidence in your own logic, in your own wisdom, in your own knowledge. Whether real knowledge or perceived knowledge, accumulated knowledge or gained wisdom, don't trust yourself. That's the bottom. At the heart of this whole thing or conditional statement is do not trust yourself. Trust God. You are safer with God than with yourself. Even yourself you are go. You are much safer. I am safer to God than I I am of myself, by myself, in myself, through myself. I am safer with God. In other words, align your plans with God than with your own logic. Align your vision. Align your business. Align your relationships. Align your finances. Align your health. Align your with with God's principles not on yourself and on your logic. In many ways, people suffer defeat in and um they suffer serious losses from their personal initiatives and plans, good plans, very good plans, brilliant, sharp, smart plans. But they suffer serious losses. And then some sometimes they wonder why. But where was God in all this? The answer is simple. [snorts] Was God involved in your planning? How much of God was in your plans? You want to him to identify with the outcome, but you do not want to align with him in planning. It's impossible. Many people they want God to identify with the with the results of their efforts. They want results to come. God make sure that the results are positive. Our results are very good. Make sure I know you can do it. I know you can do it. But in planning you exempt him. It's impossible. It's impossible. If you want God to align to identify with the result of your plan, involve him in planning. Let's move together in the beginning and we can still identify with each other at the end. Such is what God expects from us. Simple. That's like obey and live. I need to live then Lord make sure you give me more life. Make sure you give me more life. Are we together in the side of obedience? God should dictate how you live. That's the commands. His laws are supposed to be obeyed. He must dictate how you live. And he is also going to dictate how long you go. Simple. People desire to have a long lifespan, but they don't want God to dictate how they live on daily basis. doesn't make sense. So God is saying with this uh lesson today we are saying if you want all your plans to succeed, put all your trust in the Lord now. And God is the one who will make straight your paths, parts or ways. Uh an analog or is an analog or a metaphor of lifestyle. How you live, your way of life. Okay? Your plans, your daily activities. Okay? Now this text that we are looking at presents total trust in God is the only condition for divine guidance and straight path. That's the only only only condition for divine guidance. If you need divine guidance only thing that you need to do is to put all your trust in God. The question is what does that mean? What does that mean? And I'm going to unpack that just now for our learning. What does trusting God mean? Trusting in God mean acknowledging him mean. Okay. The same text that we are looking at also discourages self-confidence when dealing with all matters of life. Discourages self-confidence. That was the pith that we saw in the text at the center of that whole in uh statement was do not trust your your understanding. Do not put trust in your own understanding. So, so that pith or that negation discourages self-confidence when you are dealing with all matters of life including choosing a career and choosing a life partner, choosing the church to belong to, choosing faith, religious affiliation, choosing how to do life. Consult God at every point and you will never go wrong. Now what does that mean to trust God? To acknowledge God in all heart and to acknowledge him in all ways. It means to anchor all our confidence on God. To anchor all our confidence on God and to feel secure on God only. That is at planning level. We are talking at planning level. At planning level have your confidence in God only. at planning level. Gain your security, confidence in God only and rely on God only and live the results for him. You are good to go. You are good to go. I am good to go. Okay. The outcome of that total confidence in God and acknowledgment of God, the outcome of that you will make straight your paths. This implies success in all your attempts. Whatever you endeavor to do, there will be success. Success in other words is guaranteed before you even start your project. Success is guaranteed. What does that imply? It implies protection from enemies and all other threats that may threaten your efforts. Success is guaranteed. Protection is guaranteed. It implies excellence in all your work. If God is in it at the beginning, the results will take care of themselves. Don't worry, God will take care of them because God is in it at the beginning. In the planning process, we are together with God and therefore the results are secured in God's excellence. AND BECAUSE GOD is excellent, the results will be also excellent. And yours or your duty is simply to celebrate success and excellence symbol. Okay? There will be no cry to say but where was God in all this? But where was God? But where was God? Many people cry. But where was God? Where was God? He was not there in planning. You don't expect to see him in the outcome. If God was not there in the planning process, how come you expect him to be found in the results? What do you see that? That's witchcraft or sorcery or betrayal of trust. You want God to identify with the results only. But planning uh leave that one to me. If planning is for you and you alone also results must be for you and for you alone. You should not look for God. I should look for God when he was not there in the planning process. If we are to identify with the results together, let's also identify together in the planning process. Okay. Yes. Just like you know you know sometimes people cry in marriages. They cry when they are now married to someone. They say no but Oh, but God, don't you see that this man is evil? Don't you see this woman is evil? Where are you when he's beating me? Where are you when she is behaving like this? God will simply say, when you chose this one among all those that are in the world, was I part of your choice? Was I involved in the choosing process? Now you want me to manifest my power and to be seen only in the results. It can be cannot be let's be together even in the in the beginning or in the planning or in in in the implementation or in the planning process of of a business project God need to be involved when you are still planning just like also a career when you are contemplating to establish or to pursue a career let's involve God before you establish a career and and now you are looking for attachment now God now you know what is good what is best for me. You already you are already established. If he was not involved in the planning, he can't be involved in the results. Okay. So there are three threats that may threaten your plans which you should not trust. Number one, do not trust yourself. Your yourself I am right. You got me right. Do not trust yourself. Yourself. Your analysis and your evaluation of situations and people is biased. You can't trust yourself. Your mind itself is corrupted by many things. Therefore, you can not you should not and you must never trust yourself and your personal judgment. Why? Because you are limited in many ways. You only see the end from the beginning. You only seeing what you are seeing today. But tomorrow is hidden from your understanding, from your seeing. You are limited in perception. You are limited in understanding life. Yours is what you have today. But the future is in the hands of God. Yours is what you have already seen in the past and experienced in the past. Whether failures or whatever that is what you have seen. Now when you are making plans for the future, why should you not submit your plans into the hands of he who holds and contains and controls the future? That is God and that is prerogative and that is his area of operation the future present and even the past. Okay. So do not put trust in your own self or your own heart or your own feelings and your own emotions. I feel like I I feel like your feelings you can't be you can't trust them because they are not steadfast. They are not consistent. They change with weather with time with they change. Feelings come to go. Emotions come to go. So you how can you consult feelings on things that have eternal value? You can't you can't trust emotions. Okay. Proverbs 28:26 says, "He who trust in his own heart is a fool." This is wisdom. Now, according to the wisdom teacher, he who trusts his own heart is a fool. But whoever works wisely will be delivered. will be delivered. It's a divine passive. God is the one who deliver you. We call it a divine passive. Okay? You don't you do not deliver yourself but you will be delivered. That tells you or that suggest or implies you have no capacity or power to deliver yourself from pitifuls. Warning number two or caution number two, do not put trust on people. According to Proverbs 25:1 19, confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a bad truth and a foot out of joint. There are people who are smart out there. wise, intelligent, polished, refined people. Some of them are your friends, some of them are your relatives, some of them are your subordinates, some of them have proved in the world of business, in the world of academics, they have proved competence even though do not put your trust in them. In the ancient past according to the Bible 2 Samuel chapter 16 and chapter 17 talks of a man who was very wise whose council was if you are not careful you would think it is it is God is speaking himself a guy was smart intelligent refined polished smart excellent prolific when you consult him you no need to even pray because the answer and the counel that he gives you was just too wise. HE WAS TOO WISE to according to human standards. But oh this is what made Absalom not to to succeed in his schemes. Why? Because he bed too much of his confidence. He put too much weight and too much loyaltout and too much of himself to the council of Aito. Yes, he was smart. The Bible testifies but he was not smart more than God. So chapter 17 verse 22 God made sure that he was going to stifle the council of and that the council of must fail and the failure of council it was also it also implies or it also means the failure of Absalam's schemes all of what he had planned and schemed Abselum failed because he relied on the wisdom of mankind So put your trust in God and not on people. Number three warning or caution. Do not put total trust on your wealth. Wealth. Wealth is good. Wealth. I also need wealth by the way. And everyone of us needs wealth. And we pursue it every day. By the way, we pursue wealth. Every day we pursue wealth. The type of people that people align with or relate with. Sometimes people when before they relate with you, they want to calculate what do I gain from you? That's wealth. The type of career that people pursue or choose, they align career with wealth. Which career will give me more? And then they pursue it. No matter what it takes, they pursue it. Why? Because they need well. Now when you gain it or acquire it, do not put trust in it. Such is the council and the wisdom of wisdom teacher. Proverbs 11:28 says, "He who trust in his riches will fail, but the righteous will flourish like foliage. Do not put trust in your wealth. Yes, it's good. But money or wealth or riches have a tendence of changing hands. Yes, I said exactly that. They don't remain in one hand. You have riches today by sunset they've changed the hands. The same riches that you claimed as yours yesterday or in the afternoon by sunset they are now in the hands of someone. Such is the tendance of money. It's its character. It is doesn't come to stay. So how can you put trust in something that that changes that is a tendence of movement from one hand to another hand from one pocket to another pocket. Today it is yours to by end of day not even end of day by the next hour your hands are empty you gain the next minute your hands are empty. So how can you put it first in something that is a tendence of disappearing like mist such is the character of money riches and all of its forms they change hands. Even if you invest in kettle by in the morning they are okay by by end of day they are no longer in your hands. Either you have taken them to the market and you got money and that money by before end of day no more. Such is wealth. It doesn't come to stay. It comes to go. Let God guide you in all your relationships. There are areas of life that people really want to make sure things are intact here and which they do not entertain many people inside themselves. three areas issues of relationships, finances and the future. These three each person has plans and make sure they consult sometimes their feelings, their emotions, their friends, how how do between person A and person B, which one do you think is the most ideal? They consult their own logic, their own feelings, their own emotions. You consult your parents, your friends. Between John and Peter, who do you think is the better here? The the best one. You're consulting people about the people. Sorry. Sorry. You consult people about the future. The only thing that is guaranteed for people about as far as their future is concerned is limitations. They are they have a date of to be born and a date to die. D of birth, date of death, that one is guaranteed. The only one who is security of the future is God. And therefore, put your trust in God as far as your future is concerned. Do not consult people. Why should you not consult people? Because Jeremiah 17:9, the heart of mankind is deceitful. above all things deceitful and it is desperately wicked. Here comes a rhetorical question. Who can know it? The answer is no one except God. God knows the hearts of people. He knows this one is is only here to to to play games. He's a cheat. He's a crook. God knows. He can read the mind. He can read the heart as if he's reading what is written on the palm of his hand. But you cannot, no one is able to read the minds, intent. You You can't read intentions. You You cannot because intentions, motives, interests are hidden and they are hidden beyond our scope of reasoning and and understanding. Only God can peruse and consult and check and give you right perception about what people looks like. God understands people. Therefore, he does not in matchmaking people. He understands difficult people more than we do. God, he understands people. Whether those that you deal with in business or that those that you relate in matters of life relationships, he understands your wife more than yourself. He understands your husband more than yourself. He understands your parents more than yourself. He understands your children more than yourself. Trust God. Trust. Trust. Trust God. He forgives and he reconciles people to himself. He forgives and he reconciles people to people. That's only God who is capable of doing that. So trust God in matters of relationships. Here is a lesson that I desire that every one of us here should learn. A lesson that is prescribed and also presented by Jesus himself. In Matthew chapter 6 from verse 9, there is a model of prayer on how we pray. Are we together? Why it is rooted in this thing and why am I consulting this prayer? Because trust can only be done to God through prayer. You surrender your plans to God through prayer. You submit and share your intentions and your plans with God through prayer. This is what pastor Malika was just saying now a little while ago. You present your plans. You share your plans with God through prayer. Every plan that you have, you share those plans with God through what? Through prayer. If that is the only way you can share your plans with God so that he knows what you have in mind. This is how you pray and present your plans and package your plans and your intentions and your interest before God. This is how you package them. Let your will referring to God be done here on earth as it is done in heaven. When you say those words then you come again to say God let your will be done in my life as you have purposed in heaven. You are good to go. Let your will be done in this move that is before me. In my choice of a life partner, in my choice of a career, in my relationship with my partner, with my spouse, in how I relate with let your will be done in my project before this is the project. I have two options. You present them before God according to what you have what you think and what you have designed and present them as you present them. Package them with his word. Let your will be done. If your will is not done and God's will is done, you still need to worship God as he is God. You don't need to set another condition to say God if this thing materialize then I worship you. it if it fails you are not God. God is God whether your plans are have succeeded or not succeeded God remains God. His divinity is not defined by the result of your personal interest of my personal interest. God's godliness remains intact whether he has fulfilled your desire or not he remains God because he knows the future. He knows the end before the beginning begins. For that reason, God remains God. May I request at this point is um I appeal and also invite you to for for prayer that we need to trust God with the future plans. A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. We plan, we have good intentions, good interest and good whatever good. But it is God who ensure success or a fail of things depending on what he desires and purposed in his heart heart according to his understanding of life as far as your life is concerned. That's proverbs 16:9. And then acknowledge God when making decisions that has to do with your career or career of your children. marriage and family matters. Let's acknowledge God and move with him and involve God in every step in business initiatives. Let's involve God and move with him in religious matters and life purposes. Let's involve God at every step and we are good to go. The outcome is guaranteed. Success is guaranteed. Excellence is guaranteed. Protection is guaranteed. If God is in it, we have nothing to fear in whatever we endeavor to do. Trust God with your future plans. Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established. That's Proverbs 16:9. Commit your thoughts, your works to the Lord and they will be established. How do you commit in prayer? How do you package? Let your will be done. In my plans, in these plans, not my will, but your will. Even if it means death, let the will of God take its course. Even in cases of illnesses, let the will of God prevail. Yes, we desire that we continue to live in good health. But when God determines that this far you have come and you cannot go further that's the will of God we cannot afford to untwist God to do our own things with this with these words and with this um insights in mind let me invite my pastor pastoral may I invite you to come and pray for us people that are here present and those that are here present online they have plans They have purposes. They have personal interests which they have established. Some of them outlined them when the year began. They outlined that by the end of the year 2026. I should have accomplished A B C D. Those were we call them resolutions for the year. Those in business they also have established their own business resolutions for the year. Some have resolutions for their relationships. By the end of the year we are supposed to be now preparing wedding. Those are resolutions. But only God is capable to ensure that those plans, resolutions, interest, they can only make sense when God is approved. And therefore we I request you that as you pray commit all those resolutions, all those plans, all those interest, all those initiatives into the hands of God that his will may be done. >> Father in heaven, we thank you for these wonderful teachings. All of us here and those who are watching us online have plans. Some have plans to continue with education, >> others plans for investments, others family plans to get married and so on. We pray that you help us to involve you when we are initiating these plans and when we are carrying them out so that when we receive the results, we shall embrace them as your will. Forgive us because we have not been doing these things. And not just for longterm plans that we are praying but even short-term plans even plans of a day when we wake up in the morning. Let us lay all the plans before you so that you may carry them out or dismiss them as your will will determine. For oh God, we are there to serve you and to be used by you to meet the needs of mankind to the glory of your name. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. >> That's all.