"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."—Proverbs 3:5, 6
I had never intentionally memorized this specific Bible passage from the book of Proverbs, but it came to me loud and clear, word for word, several years ago when I felt a strong desire to leave not only my job, but my 20–year career in business.
Although I love the Bible, I had pretty dismissed Proverbs as just another collection of pithy statements, sort, of like bumper-sticker messages. And as we all know, everywhere today we're bombarded with well-intended advice from talk shows, self-help books, parents, friends, ministers—even our children. So why was I drawn to this particular proverb? What exactly is a proverb anyway? "Proverbs ... are not words of advice, but rather theses or statements about reality to bring clarity out of confusion. They invite the reader to become active, to make a judgment, to discern" (Richard Clifford, The Book of Proverbs and Our Search for Wisdom, Marquette University Press, 1995, p. 6).
