The Lord makes firm the steps
Psalms 37:23-24 (NIV)
of the one who delights in him;
though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
Our Christian life is a journey, and it comes with many twists and turns and stumbles. We may want God to give us instructions for every step, but he does not do this, nor would he want to. He wants us to learn to trust his invisible hand, which we may not even recognize. Instead of waiting for step by step instructions, God would like us to delight in him. This keeps our hearts abiding in him, which he honors with guidance. Our steps will be “firm”; they will solidly contact the ground and give us a foundation for our next step. We may stumble because of the troubles in the world or because of our lack of understanding, but God provides a way for us to recover our balance and continue on our way.
Sometimes tragedies afflict us; those are the times that God is hoping we will trust and delight in him. Sometimes it takes a tragedy for us to realize that our greatest treasure is God himself. Thus, we do not embrace fear and doomsday thinking when troubles arise. We learn to recenter on God and look for ways to become more like Christ. God will provide our needs, steady our pace and make us fruitful again . Remember Jesus’ words: “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit” (John 15:5, NIV).
