Have you ever stood at a place in your life where you felt like the sunshine was behind you and all you could see in front of you was darkness and a treacherous path? Where fear twisting and gnawing within you snuffed out any moment of happiness you reached for ? Where you felt that you only thing you could hold onto was fragile at best ?My husband and I went for a walk today behind our home where there is a lovely mountain trail. Until recently, the start of it was rather treacherous ..a steep incline without sure footing and a little rain could make it down right dangerous. There was nothing strong to hold onto.
It reminded me of a person's life without God - his path is unknown, unsafe, unpredictable and unstable.
But... how our path changes when we accept the Lord into our life. When we become His child there are vast improvements made to our path of life.
Just like our mountain trail!
Beautiful steps have been ordered and installed !
About a hundred of them. Steps carefully fitted to the terrain and spaced in such a way as to make it just right for a climber's natural pace. The trail that before filled me with trepidation is now a delight !
I thought of the verse in Psalms 37:23
"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way."
I thought of the verse in Psalms 37:23"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way."
The word 'ordered' jumped out at me. Ordered implies several things......
First it implies that what is ordered will be made according to specifications . Careful thought and planning has gone into the specifications that will meet the intended purpose. God knows exactly where my feet will go and He has build steps before me so that I will not stumble or slip and can climb the mountain of my life without fear!
Along the steps of our new mountain trail, benches have been thoughtfully placed for weary climbers. The Lord knew that I would also get tired along my life path ... and in His forethought places of rest were placed beside the steps.
Exo 33:14 And He said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
There are also places where we can stop and look out over the view .
There are times in my life where I need to stop and take a look at the bigger picture . It is sooo easy to get caught up with the details of my life... details that can confuse me, disappoint me, overwelm me or even make me question the purpose of events, circumstances that face me .... But if I stop and look from God's point of view, seeing the bigger picture that reveals His heart and purposes I find that my soul is quieted and I am strengthened and encouraged to carry on - my faith built up in the One in Whom I trust ! Isa 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.
And along the path of my life ... God has also ordered surprises to delight and cheer me. Just like this caterpillar on our walk reminded me of my childhood fascination with these furry little creatures that would curl up in my hand. I had not seen one for a long time and the sight of him put a smile on my face.I am always amazed at how God seems to delight in hiding surprises along my life path.... little things that only He would know would give me a moment of pleasure and an assurance of His love toward me.
We are living in times that are more apt to fill us with uncertainty and fear than a settled confidence that all will be well.
I want to remind you that if you are a child of the Father your life steps are ordered by Him and they are fitted and measured specifically for your footsteps. He ordered them long ago knowing just what you would need. There are no surprises to Him - your life was known to Him from before you were born. How comforting to know that we do not have to find our own way on a dangerous path of life.....but our steps were ordered, preplanned to specifications according to His purposes and His care over us.
(If you are not yet a child of the Father.. know that He would love to welcome you into the kingdom. Simply come to Him as a child - repent and confess your sin and need of Him-recognizing that it is only through Jesus that there is salvation)
Jer 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. "
7 comments:
Wow! What a beautiful place to live! And a very fitting post, again! You reminded me of my favorite psalm 139, where it says that HE knew us in our mothers womb already, and he knows the steps that we have to take in life.
Thank you for reminding me and blessing my weekend!
It is funny how we both came across the same style of wooly catapillars. Mine had white tuffs too...wonder what that signified?
Since God knows each moment of our lives, I find it interesting to think He already knows when our house will sell, and which house we will buy!
I love these words you wrote: "...your life steps are ordered by Him and they are fitted and measured specifically for your footsteps. He ordered them long ago knowing just what you would need. There are no surprises to Him - your life was known to Him from before you were born."
We don't have to try so hard to place our foot down on that step do we? It's already there...we don't have to build it first. Just step down, and there is security! He is there, that's it! Simple.
Julie, again such a wonderful post. I love the additon of photos for my style of learning. ..oh how wonderful to know that this whole financial upheaval is not at all unexpected .. in the sense that God knew.
I love that assurance. Posts that relate to where we are at in the world are so relevant and appreciated .. .by me.
Regarding those woolly caterpillars: it may be an old wives' tale, but we were taught that the woollier the caterpillar's coat, the harsher the upcoming winter!
I love the reassurance that comes from knowing that God is there before us, and our steps are safe when we walk with Him and in His light.
The photos and the path's improvements are beautiful! I really like how you've used them to illustrate this devotional.
I went to see if I could find any info on the wooly caterpillar. . and the winter forecast. . .You don't have to keep this comment. . .I just thought that this was an interesting site Julie.
http://www.insectslimited.com/Issue%2077.pdf
Thank you very much for sharing.
Through your blog, a lot of people including me of course have a chance to read and learn
from.
I have read some of your post and I really enjoyed reading it.
Thanks again and looking forward for more of your posting soon!
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