Today, you and I are going to have a little heart
-to -heart talk about something that's very close
to my own heart. And I want to read the first
six verses as found in the third chapter of Proverbs.
My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart
keep my commandments. For length of days and
long life and peace shall they add to thee. Let
not mercy and truth forsake thee. Bind them about
thy neck. Write them upon the table of thine
heart. So shalt thou find favor and good. understanding
in the sight of God and man. 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. Be not wise
in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from
evil. Oh, to me, that's a priceless portion of
the Word of God. And how often we forget the
truth that's found in just these six verses.
But I want to repeat that fifth verse for you.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean
not unto thine own understanding. It is my firm
conviction that no man who has ever lived or
is living today who has had a... greater spiritual
influence on Sweden or the country of Norway,
the Scandinavian countries, than Pastor Petrus.
Literally thousands and thousands and thousands,
only God knows. but thousands in the Scandinavian
countries who had been brought to the saving
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through the
life and the ministry of Pastor Petrus. He's
known throughout the world as Mr. Pentecost,
and I think that's one of the greatest compliments
that can be paid to a human being. There's something
about that man of God special anointing. One
cannot be in his presence without feeling the
wonderful power and presence of the Holy Spirit.
A saint of God who is past 80 years of age. And
I'm only sorry, I deeply regret that I was not
personally acquainted with him years and years
ago. I wonder how my own ministry might have
been affected had I known him when I was 16 years
of age. For I have never forgotten what another
saint of God said to me when I was just 16. So
young, so inexperienced, that saint of God who
is known as Brother McCloud, who one day... took
my hands in his bony hands. Oh, there was so
little flesh left on his hands. All I could feel
was the bones and the love. He was nearing the
sunset hour. He saw my zeal, acknowledged my
love for the Lord, and knew better than I knew
my lack of experience. And he gave me advice
that day that I have never, never, never forgotten.
And I did not know the full impact of what he
was saying to me when he said, Girl, never get
out of the will of God. I did not know what dear
old Brother McCloud... who went home to glory
soon after that, really meant, but he knew the
importance of those words from past experiences.
And there is no substitute for experience. Well,
Pastor Petrus was here in the United States,
and we were having dinner together. Oh, that
mighty saint of God, just to be in his presence.
Just to sit at his feet, I mean that. And we
were talking about the things of God and especially
the Holy Spirit. He'd been in the service of
the Shrine of the Torium in Los Angeles, enjoying
the presence of the Holy Spirit. and the manifestation
of the power of God more than perhaps anyone
else there. And then, as we sat and were eating
our dinner, he said, you know, Miss Kuhlman,
he's always very definite in everything that
he says. You know, Miss Kuhlman, I have watched
you very closely since we have become friends.
I was in those services when you were in Sweden.
I've watched your every movement and analyzed
you very closely. And he said, you want to know
something? Of course we know that the secret...
The success of your ministry is the power and
the presence of the Holy Spirit. But he said,
your own personal success is found in one thing.
One. I sat there, wondering what this saint of
God was going to say. Waiting almost breathlessly
for his next word. And this is what he said.
You may talk things over with other folk. I have
heard you. As you have said now, what would you
do? It was almost as though you were getting
the idea of someone else. But in the final analysis,
always did what the Holy Spirit told you to do.
You never accepted the advice of some man or
some woman just because they had given that advice.
In every instance, I have seen you turn. And
before you made any decision, you got the mind
of God on that thing. And oftentimes, and usually,
it was contrary to the advice that some man or
some woman had given you. Perhaps he was the
only one who recognized that in my life. In me.
I could have wept. I could have broken forth
in tears. For, beloved, I tell you frankly, I
have learned the importance of this portion of
the Word of God. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart and lean... not unto thine own understanding.
Be not wise in thine own eyes. Let me repeat
it again. Be not wise in thine own eyes. The
very moment that I become wise in my own eyes
and think that I am smart, that is the day when
I start down the skids. That's the very hour
when I am doomed eventually to spiritual failure.
That's the moment. If only I could get good understanders.
If... Only that man or that woman who is leaning
on his own understanding. Lean. Oh, that's a
good word. Lean. Lean not unto your own understanding.
That is, do not put too much dependence upon
your own wisdom. Do not lean too heavily upon
your own wisdom because it simply will not support
you. The plain honest fact is, I'm sorry to say,
is that really none of us is wise enough to get
through this world by depending upon his own
wisdom and knowledge. God is perfect wisdom.
A thousand times a day I am mindful of the fact
that God is perfect wisdom. Our wisdom is imperfect
wisdom. Then I would be a very foolish person
to lean upon my own wisdom knowing that my wisdom
is imperfect. But when I lean on the wisdom of
God, I am leaning on a wisdom that is perfect.
So this is the advice. Do not lean on your own
poor understanding, for it will not take you
where you want to go. Trust the Lord with all
of your heart. Lean not on your own understanding.
It's imperfect. It will fail in all of your ways,
in everything you do. Acknowledge him as your
guide. Build all of your thinking around him.
Oh, that's such a wonderful life to live. If
somehow I had the vocabulary to tell you, to
get it through to you, to get it across to you,
that this can be such a wonderful life. When
you build all of your thinking around him, you'll
not be a frustrated person. How in the world
could you be a frustrated person? How in the
world could you have a nervous breakdown? How
in the world could you know failure if you were
building all of your thinking and building your
life around the Lord Jesus Christ. Solve every
problem around Him. He's the center. And everything
that concerns you concerns Him also. Therefore,
every problem, no matter what that problem is,
is solved around Him. Never make a decision without
consulting him. And when you consult him, he'll
direct your path. If I go to someone else for
advice, because they're as human as I am, and
their wisdom is as imperfect as my wisdom is,
therefore, I might just as well lean on my own
understanding and my wisdom as to ask someone
else. Sometimes one just does it as a matter
of courtesy. Now that's being brutally frank,
you know. But it is that way. Because their wisdom
is just as imperfect as my wisdom. But there
is one who has perfect wisdom. Therefore, I'm
very foolish if I do not go to the one who can
Direct my path. A perfect path. I know very well
that there are people, including myself, who
try to decide a great many questions without
any thought of God whatsoever. And consequently,
we get ourselves into trouble. We're not using
the world's greatest sources of wisdom. Just
start using this portion of the Word of God.
When you apply this portion of God's Word, remember
that every disappointment can be a message from
God. He has to give you His advice in one way
or another. And sometimes He gives it to you
through a bitter disappointment. I'm not telling
you that your pathway is going to be rosy. I'm
not going to tell you that there will not be
any heartaches or any trials. perfect wisdom,
knowing that which is best for us. He knows that
through that trial, through that heartache, we
will become a better and bigger person and we'll
always come out on the winning side. Always,
I promise you that. If you have a thought about
a matter and if you've done all that you can
about it, You're disappointed. It seems to me
you must believe the disappointment as a message
from God telling you perhaps that you were not
going about the affair in the right manner or
that the idea was faulty. I've come to the conclusion
that the simpler you are in your relationship
to God, the more effective or your daily experiences.
After all, it is a child and a parent relationship.
Oh, just to be simple in your relationship. That's
right. And the simpler you and I are in our relationship
to God, the more effective are our daily experiences
and the less complicated living becomes. You
know, we've gotten this whole thing so complicated
when it comes to living that most people are
in a state of frustration and confusion. They
don't know where they're coming, where they're
going. They don't know the sky is... Up or down,
most of them do not even have their feet on the
ground. So unstable. Let's get back to the simple
way of living again. Let's get back to our simple
relationship with God. It's just like that. Ask
the Lord. His advice on things. He'll give it
to you. I promise you. I promise you with all
my heart. He'll show you. If you really want
to know. If you take your disappointments. And
do not whine and complain about them. But say,
Lord. What are you trying to show me? Perhaps
he'll lead you to something far greater than
you had imagined. That's right. Remember, your
disappointments may be his appointment. At that
moment, it may seem like a disappointment to
you. Through that disappointment, after the moment,
he may have spared you from a great tragedy.
Our eyesight is far too short. Our eyesight is
so dimmed sometimes. We can only see just a step
or two ahead. when God sees the whole thing,
the beginning to the end. Now, the second technique
in handling the disappointment skillfully is
that when you're sure that what you wanted is
not going to happen, then you must develop the
art of being able to walk away from the matter
and forget it. The longer I live and the more
I stay, study human nature, the more I am convinced
that a great deal of unhappiness in the world
today comes out of not freeing ourselves from
old, unhappy past events. If you've committed
a sin, for example, don't drag it along with
you for the rest of your life. If you've confessed
it to God, Get it forgiven and leave it behind.
Don't think about it anymore. Don't think about
it. Don't bring it up. If you've asked forgiveness
for that sin and God's forgiven you, don't drag
the old carcass around anymore. Leave it. Forget
it. If someone... Doesn't mean thing to you.
Don't carry it around with you. Forgive it and
forget it. You cannot carry all this excess weight.
Walk away from the thing. It's under the blood.
Remember that. You must remember that. All these
things are so simple. These things are so wonderful.
Yes, beloved, if somehow in just this second
I could get you to not lean on your own understanding.
When temptations come, when disappointments come,
when death comes, when trials come, 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 path. Beloved, be
not wise in thine own eyes. He is perfect wisdom.