Steps

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” 3 John 1:4

Let’s say you are on a journey. A long path stretches out before you, with twists and turns, hills and valleys. You can’t see the end, of course. But you know this is the right path for you. The One you trust has set you on this particular journey. He says it’s what you were made for. He says He has prepared the way for you. He says He will travel alongside you and help you through the seemingly impossible places.

You set out with joy. Or maybe you set out with fear and trembling. Either way, you know this is the right way for you.

One day, you look back and see how far you have come. Hmm…you don’t feel like you’ve really taken that many actual steps. You don’t feel like you’ve made actual decisions that would qualify as steps that moved you forward. And yet, you do see changes in yourself.

How did you get started? There you were, just standing around, and you heard a call, you felt a tug, you realized your desperate condition, you had a need. You turned in the direction of the Voice, and you found that the Voice belonged to a Lover, a Master, a Shepherd, a Savior. You wanted what He was offering, and you accepted His invitation to move forward with Him.

On the path, you often felt like you were just standing still, doing nothing, going nowhere. Occasionally you read something that caused you to move an inch—a suggestion of a better way, a change to make. Other times you saw something major that needed to change, and you made an actual decision to take a step, or many steps. Maybe someone whispered in your ear about what awaited you at journey’s end, and you ran toward it for a time, then slowed down when the way became a discouraging climb. At some points, you got distracted and forgot that you were even on a journey, when you looked around at other things to do. But you always came back. You might say, you were compelled to come back. The Lover gently led you to the path you left for a time. He promised, after all.

And where else would you go anyway? His beauty is unsurpassed. His thoughts toward you are for good. His love is uncompromising. His majesty is glorious; His glory is majestic. His gifts are forever. His joy is satisfying and filling.

The Christian walk has often been referred to as a journey. I don’t think of it that way day by day, but when I look back, I see how far I’ve come. I see good choices that Young Me would not have made. I see a future and a hope that never was part of my outlook before. Mostly, I see abiding Love in a Friend and Father that I never knew before I got started.

Lord, thank You for setting us on this journey. We trust You to bring us safely to Your house. Amen.