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Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)>
The Golden Rule of the understanding is spiritual insight. The reason we remain so dull and unaware of God's presence is that we trust in our own wit and wisdom rather than relying on the Spirit of God. When we lean on our own understanding, we lean on a reed that breaks.
Oswald Chambers, *My Utmost for His Highest*>
To trust in God is not to hang our anchor on a cloud. It is to hang it on the will and life of God -- the one reality that never changes, never fails, and never lies. When a man learns to trust, he enters a world where everything is solid.
George MacDonald, *Unspoken Sermons*>
The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God. For if the manifestation of God which is made by means of the creation affords life to all living in the earth, much more does that revelation of the Father which comes through the Word give life to those who see God.
Irenaeus of Lyons, *Against Heresies* IV.20.7>
The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise godly life, but the beginning of it. Each of us must die to the self-life before we can live the life that is hid with Christ in God. This death is not a crisis -- it is a continuous process, a daily handing over of the rights to ourselves.
Watchman Nee, *The Normal Christian Life*If you stripped away every external validation you lean on -- job title, project success, others' approval -- what would be left that you cannot lose?
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Remember that you are an actor in a play, of such a kind as the author chooses -- short if he wants it short, long if he wants it long. If he wants you to play a beggar, play even that part with all your skill. If a cripple, if a ruler, if a private citizen -- play each with integrity. For it is yours to play the assigned part well, but to choose it belongs to another.
Epictetus, *Enchiridion* §17Overcast, 59°F | Humidity: 77% | Wind: 14 mph