In Proverbs 3: 5-6, Solomon says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean NOT on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”

What does this mean? “. . . lean not to your own understanding?” The hardest thing about truly trusting God is giving up our death grip on reality. From the very beginning of our lives we learn to trust in, to rely on, what we can see, what we can touch, taste, feel and hear, to carry us through; to keep us out of trouble. “Look both ways before you cross that street!”
As we grow it quickly becomes a struggle between trusting in what we can see versus trusting in what God says; and it’s especially hard when most of the people standing around are saying, “Logically, you must be a fool to trust in stuff you can’t see.” ‘Course, 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “But we trust NOT in the seen, but in the unseen; because the seen is temporary, but the unseen is eternal.” (Tex’s paraphrase)
When it comes to ‘leaning on my own understanding’, I’m weak. My understanding is weak, like walking on a crippled foot. When you step on it you fall down.
You get to choose. Do you want to keep relying on yourself, or are you really tired of trying to run your own life; falling farther and farther behind; wondering why things are still not working; praying that some miracle will happen to deliver you from a bad job, or a truly failing marriage, or the bottom of a bottle.
That’s the question. How tired are you? Are you tired enough to admit that you and your self just can’t be trusted; that you’re unreliable? Are you tired enough to trust God, even when you have no idea how even God can fix all the stuff that’s wrong with you? Are you ready to trust God even if you have to give up trying to control your own life?
That is what this leaning thing is about. If you’re tired enough that you’re ready for a little rest from your own understanding, a little relief your own abilities, your own results; all you’ve got to do is stop trusting you and start trusting (leaning) solely on God. It’ll change your life.