“TAKE ANOTHER STEP”

Have you ever had a day when you looked in the mirror and asked yourself, what am I doing?  Where is my life going?  I am happy, but I just feel like there is something more I should be doing.  I’m sure that I am not the only one to have had this mirror conversation, as if the mirror would be any help in answering the questions you are postulating.  None the less, I have done it many times. 

There are days we wonder what God’s plan is.  I have heard many people say, I know God can’t fill me in on everything but if He could just give me the first chapter I would feel better.  It goes back to our desperate and very human need to have some control.  In a world where nothing seems to make any sense, we are constantly grasping for control in any situation we can. 

The fact is, we can’t have control.  The Bible makes it very clear in Proverbs 20.  I love this passage because it is a very direct answer to our questions.

Proverbs 20:24

“A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?”

It’s like, duh?  Your steps are ordered of the Lord, what makes you think you can understand.  In fact the Bible says in Isaiah 55 that God’s ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are higher than ours.  We were never meant to fully understand.  We are to have faith and trust in a God who loves us and knows what is best for us.  Sounds really simple right?  Let it go, because God has total control.  Don’t worry, it will work out.

Psalms 37:23-25

"The steps of a man are established by the Lord, And He delights in his way.
When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.  I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Or his descendants begging bread.”

Though it is a difficult thing for us to let go and trust God with our path, it is the smartest way to live.  I like the last part of these verses in Psalm 37.  I haven’t “seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.”  God does not forget about us.  We may feel that he has, but that is just a feeling.  I can attest that in my own life when things looked there bleakest, God always provided.  There was even a time when I was very small that my own father begged God for just one loaf of bread for his family.  The next day we were picking up a lady for church, like we did every week, and she brought us a loaf of bread.  (They were buy one get one free, but she can’t eat that much bread)  I watched my father’s reaction over that loaf of bread.  The knowledge that God does listen no matter how big or how small the request, He cares for us.  It’s amazing to know deep in your heart that God is in control of every situation. 

So then, when questions raise their ugly heads, how should we proceed?  Just “take another step.”  You may not be able to see the path you are on, but God sees it.  “Take another step.”  I was struggling one day, and just happened (wink, wink) to be listening to Steven Curtis Chapman’s newest album “Glorious Unfolding”.  Then the song “Take Another Step” came on.  It was the reminder I needed right then.  God knows how music seems to break through my stubbornness.

Here are some of the lyrics…

“We walk by faith and not by sight we know it’s true

We say it and sing it and love the way it sounds
But none of us can even begin to truly understand
What it really means till all the lights go out
And there we are nothing to hold on to
But the promises Gods made to me and you
Take another step, take another step
When the road ahead is dark
And you don’t know where to go
Take another step, take another step
Trust God and take another step”

Just trust God and “Take another step.”  It’s just that simple.  And if you still struggle, remember what it says in Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”  All you need to do is sit down and spend a little time in prayer and in God’s Word.  That is all the light you will need on this path we travel.  My Dad always says “hindsight is 20/20.”  As you follow God on this path, at times it is hard to see your way.  However, if you turn around and look back on your life, you will see God’s gentle hand guiding you every step of the way. 

Let me pray for you….

Lord, you know we all struggle to trust you in our daily walk.  Sometimes we struggle to see the path you have us on, and we begin to get discouraged.  God, please be our light and guide our paths.  Give us strength to trust you no matter our circumstance because we know you care for us.  Help us to love others, to guide those around us as we allow ourselves to be lead by your Holy Spirit.  Guide our steps, that we may fulfill your call on our lives.  In Your Precious Holy Name, Amen.