When I was younger, I was convinced that I taught a friend of the family how to walk. I’m not completely sure of the veracity of my recollection; now that I’m older I know that walking is generally not something that is just accomplished in one afternoon, but from my childlike perspective, I was the one responsible for the fact that this kid was now mobile.
What I learned from this little coaching session, is that walking is not something that happens rapidly, and if you really think about it, we don’t actually teach kids to walk. Instead, what we teach them is to take one step, and then another, without losing their balance and falling down. It’s only when they put a series of these steps together that they are truly walking. Our outcome though, is just one step, and then the next.
This lesson we learned as children is often forgotten by the time that we’re adults. When we’re looking towards the next thing in life, we want the complete path mapped out for us. We’re not worried so much about the next step as we are about the series of steps five miles down the road. We neglect to remember that the only way we get five miles down the road, is to first take the step that’s right in front of us.
The truly wonderful thing, however, is that the God we serve is taking each step with us. Just like a parent holds the child’s hands as they first began to walk, so our Father is walking right beside us as we seek to do His will. He’s not waiting for us five miles down the road at our purposed destination; He’s holding us as we trip over the rock, as we veer off the path, and as we stub our toes. Every step we walk, we walk with Him.
As an old songsays:
Step by step He leads me,
And I will follow Him all of my days.
Each step.
One foot after the other.
With Him by our side.
Until we’re Home.
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