This is the next part of my series of reviews about Andy Stanley’s new book The Principle Of The Path. If you haven’t read the previous parts of this series, check them out here:

Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers Review
Extended Review – Part 1
Extended Review – Part 2 – The Heart Of The Matter

In these next few posts, I will take a closer look at a few of the chapters that spoke to me the most.

Chapter 6: My Italian Job

The challenging aspect about picking the right paths is that the choices are now. The outcomes are later. The decisions you make today have ramifications down the road.

The choices we make are like a rock thrown into a pond. Once the initial splash has happened, the pond changes. There are ripples. Those ripples keep going. And going. And going. Those ripples affect every part of that pond; some areas it affects right away, some areas it affects later.

Our choices in life make a splash. But that splash leaves ripples that have an effect much more far-reaching than we know at the time.

So how do we learn how to make those choices? Good intentions aren’t enough. Good information helps, but again, it’s not enough. So what else is there? What are we missing?

Choosing the right path begins with submission. Not information. Not direction. Submission. Submission specifically to God, who already knows where the path will lead. Submission to the One who knows what’s best for you and for me. He knows even better than I do what’s best for me. Thankfully.

Our problem is easily definable: it’s independence. We want to do our own thing in our own way. And we know at our deepest level that the solution for our independence is submission.

And that is one of the biggest failings with our American culture. We are a society that applauds the self-made man. We encourage individualism. We enjoy the stories of someone who lifted themselves up by their own bootstraps. We celebrate our independence beyond everything else.

And therein lies our problem. We need to stop standing so tall alone and lean on the one who can guide us in the direction we need to go. We need to learn dependency. We need to stop trusting our own hearts.

Our part is not to trust our hearts. Our part is to trust God with our hearts.

Proverbs 3:5-6 states:

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Andy Stanley summarizes this passage well:

What this verse actually asserts is that God will make the best path obvious. If we trust with all our hearts, refuse to lean into our limited understanding, and submit every aspect of our lives to him, the best path will become unmistakably clear. Divine direction begins with unconditional submission.

This verse is not saying that if we trust God, he will straighten out whatever path we choose. But instead that God will make the best path obvious. There’s a huge difference. And we often miss it.

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, and who wrote that passage from Proverbs, is instructing us here to stop propping ourselves up with our own knowledge and insight.

When the way we view things conflicts with the way God views things, we are to lean in his direction rather than our own. When what makes sense to us doesn’t line up with his revealed will, we are to side with him and ignore the whispers of our hearts.

In spite of all you know and all you have experienced, don’t make the mistake of thinking that you’re old enough, wise enough, smart enough, experienced enough, or careful enough to be able to lean on (as in trust) your own understanding.

In order to make the best decisions about the direction of our path, we need much more than information. We need more than our own common sense. We need more than the world’s wisdom. We need God. We need to live in an attitude of dependency. We need to acknowledge him in all our ways.

Choosing the best path begins with submission.

Choosing the best path begins with living in a posture of dependency.

Choosing the best path begins with God.

If you are interested in reading The Principle Of The Path, by Andy Stanley, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

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