Stepping Stones

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. (Psa 37:23-24)

Walking along through life can sometimes seem like jumping across stones in stream. Each step has to be carefully thought out so that you have a next step beyond. If you jump to a rock with no others ahead, you end up having to back and try a different way. Other stones can be slippery and that's even worse. It's confusing. It's frustrating. And most of us would like it to be different.

Wouldn't it be nice if life were like walking down a simple, smooth path? No missteps. No risk of going the wrong direction. No need to back up and try again. Yeah, that would take all the risk and frustration away. It would also mean you would be limited in how you could go. It would mean you would not need any faith. After all, you don't need God to guide you if there is never a chance of making a misstep. Yet, we sometimes long for that simple, easy path.

Psalm 37 has an interesting promise in it, however. It says our steps are "ordered by the LORD." It sure doesn't seem like it sometimes, does it? We don't know what to do next. We get into problems. Things don't go the way we expect. Troubles come, and we think that if God really was watching we never would doubt which step to take and never would have gotten into this mess in the first place! How can this be?

When the Psalm says our steps are "ordered" it doesn't mean that everything is going to go smoothly without any risk or failure. It does mean that God has prepared out steps, and just as important, it means that He makes our steps firm.

When faced with a question about which step to take next, obsessing over whether it will be the right step or not, I remember this Psalm. I may not be sure of the next step, but God is. And that means I can step with confidence, knowing He will be there to guide my steps. Should I get distracted, or misjudge, and make a wrong step, He is there to lift me back up again and put my feet back onto the firm places.

I can live with that.