“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” Proverbs 3:7-8

We were driving to North Carolina in a rental vehicle and my daughter’s family was with us. The straight line of the map dictated we take a short cut through horse country near Ocala, Florida. The large stables, pastures and long fences verified that fact. Suddenly, my daughter emphatically stated…“I just saw a monkey!” We all rolled our eyes and laughed!

I hadn’t seen it, but both her and my granddaughter were looking out the window and had. Though my granddaughter called it a raccoon… my daughter was adamant. “It was a monkey I tell ya!” Again, we all laughed as the van got quiet. A few minutes later the silence was broken as she shouted out, “AHHH HAAAA! SEE…I TOLD YA!” Looking at her phone, she began reading a local news story confirming that wild monkeys had indeed invaded horse country! After a few comments and wows…the van fell silent once more.

My daughter is both logical and inquisitive. When she saw something that seemed out of place, she said what she saw. When everyone thought she was nuts, she took the time to research the crazy to find out if what she had seen was really what she saw. To her, the discrepancy between theory and reality HAD to proved… one way or the other. As I read this verse today, I had to stop and think about what IT was saying.

This verse follows the directive to ‘trust in the LORD with ALL YOUR HEART.” It is a command, not a request. The implied subject is…”YOU!” And even though the ‘subject’ doesn’t change, the ‘command’ turns into a ‘warning’ with a ‘promise.’ And just like seeing monkeys in horse country, the statement demands some verification.

“Do not put faith or trust in yourself!” is the pivot point of that verse. The warning issued is there because we humans generally follow what we feel, think or desire. God’s Word gives me LOTS of information that runs contrary to what ‘I’ want or think, and then demands my doing the complete OPPOSITE of what “I” think! The difficulty comes with choosing who’s vision is to win.       How do YOU see things?