It was a new day. And it didn’t take long for my thoughts to turn to business matters.

Especially The Matter.

Do I sell Anabaptist Bookstore or do I try to find investors or do I just shut down — which, if any, does God want me to do?

I don’t know.

So then I come to this in my morning reading:

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

All. No exceptions. Don’t hold back.

Trust in the Lord, eh? But I thought I had been doing that!

Be not wise in thine own eyes (Proverbs 3:7)

Well, I’ll take that verse as encouragement to keep doing it. And I’ll take it as a challenge to be alert to those areas where I’m not doing it.

So I keep reading:

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:6).

Keeping God-aware all the time. Now that I most very definitely can do very much better at.

That must be why I don’t yet know what I’m supposed to do (other than keep providing dependable good service to our customers).

So I read a little further (I was aiming to stop with verse 10, if you’re wondering). It didn’t take long to arrive here:

“Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine” (Proverbs 3:9,10).

Hope!

But could that be for me?

Are those God’s instructions for me regarding my business and The Matter?

Is that promise applicable to me in this particular situation?

Besides, there’s The Unthinkable, Unutterable Thought that I did think but have not yet divulged.

Except God already knows, of course.

But, but, but…. That’s what I have been doing. For years. Decades. And where’s my plenty and my new wine? Come to think of it, where are my barns and my presses?!

Hence the title of this piece: Is It Still True?

So the devil mocks and tempts: “Yeah, hath God said?”

My answer: “Yes, He did say that. So He still says that. And with His help, I’ll continue to believe it…contrary ‘evidence’ notwithstanding.”

(That. Sounds. So. Easy.)

from Proverbs 3:7