Avoid Excessive Reasoning

“Time makes more converts than reason.”

—THOMAS PAINE

Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

—Proverbs 3:5

God’s Word teaches us not to rely on our own understanding. That simply means we don’t need to waste our time trying to figure out things only God knows. This doesn’t mean we aren’t supposed to think about things, but it does mean we’re not supposed to obsess over the challenges and conflicts that come day by day. God invites us to simplify our lives by trusting Him and living in faith, but trust always means we have some unanswered questions in our lives. If we knew everything, we wouldn’t need God! Admit you don’t know everything and don’t worry about it. It is not your job to have all the answers; it is your job to trust God to provide answers at the exact right time.

During a desperate moment of realizing I needed to simplify my life, one of the first things I had to give up was reasoning. My mind had to be simple if my life was going to be simple. I had to stop analyzing and fretting over things I shouldn’t. Constantly revolving my mind around and around every issue, trying to come up with an answer that made sense, was certainly not simple. I felt mentally worn out most of the time and a lot of what I thought I figured out turned out to be wrong anyway. God showed me I was addicted to reasoning. I could not settle down and feel peaceful until I thought I had everything in life figured out. I had to be weaned off reasoning much like a baby has to be weaned off a pacifier.

I eventually made the decision to stop trying to figure things out, but it took a while for my flesh to settle down and feel peaceful when I had unanswered questions. Each time I started to feel confused, I knew I had slipped into my old habit and I would say out loud, “God, I trust You and I refuse to get into reasoning.” Gradually, I was completely delivered from what I call “the need to know.” I am now comfortable not knowing because I know God and He knows everything. He will also let me know if and when I need to know, so in the meantime I can rest in His love and know He is in control. This process took time to develop in my life, but it has been worth it. If you are someone who tries to figure out too much, I suggest you start today in breaking your addiction to reasoning and learn to trust the Master Reasoner, God Himself!