The Lord of our Steps

Proverbs 20:24, “A man’s steps are of the Lord; How then can a man understand his own way?”

For many people, they have a device that is attached to their wrists that counts how much they walk.  It will tell how many miles are walked, amount of physical activity and even track your route if wanted.  People want to know where they have been to motivate themselves to continue going forward.  It is good to see where you were and where you are going.  This is why it is important to have God be the Lord of our steps.

A man’s steps.  For me, I average about 6000 steps a day.  I am not a health nut by any means but I am sure to get my activity when I can get it.  I am going all around my house, outside, and even out on errands.  My legs take me where I need to go.  A man’s steps say a lot about the man.  It tells where someone is going or where they have been.  If you have been to a beach, you can see footprints in the sand.  There can be big ones, little ones and medium-sized ones.  People’s steps can be big or small, spread out or close together.

Are of the Lord’s.  What if I were to tell you that God knows where each of our steps take us?  Yes, He knows.  He wants us to take good steps toward Him.  Those steps to helping out others, going to church and steps to go to Bible studies.  There are also steps like that of building a building.  God wants us to organize ourselves to follow the steps required to be with Him in Heaven.  We need to choose to take these steps and follow Him.

How then can a man understand his own way?  We may think that we are in control of the direction we go, but we are not.  God knows what we will do before we do it.  This blows your mind when you think about it.  God knows where we are going.  He knows who we truly serve.  He knows if we will be saved or not.  We have our life planned out by God.  We may think that we are in control but we are simply being shown by God where to go.  He guides our steps for His honor and His glory.  God is over all.  Our steps are not our steps.  They are God’s.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for guiding our way.  So often, we get confused about where we are going.  We get lost.  You are there to help us through our time of darkness and guiding us to the Light.  You are the Light.  You are there for us.  We need You for all things.  Even when we take steps, they are Yours.  Everything is Yours.  Lead us closer to You in all that we say and do.  We love You and worship You with our words and even our steps.

In Your name we pray,

Amen

New Steps in the New Year

Proverbs 16:9, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”

As we enter this new year of 2018, many plans will be made called resolutions.  People will try to lose weight, exercise more, change careers, find the love of their life and change how they are.  These resolutions will start out so well but will fall flat.  They fall flat because people lose interest or cannot keep up with the demands that are required.  God has a plan for us and will guide our new steps in the new year.

Note the text says that man’s heart plans but God directs.  Plans conceptualized by a faulty, sinful person pale in comparison to the direction of God.  God is the God of action.  He has a plan that has been in place since before time began for us.  God has never deviated from that plan and He is not about to start now.  Man’s plans change but God is constant.  Unwavering.  Firm.

We all have plans.  When we wake up in the morning, we plan our days.  Coffee, newspaper, and breakfast is an example of a typical start to a day.  However, plans can change.  The children can wake up sick and need to go to the doctor.  Your spouse might need you to do something for them.  Plans change.  God’s direction does not.

The word plan comes from the Hebrew word חָשַׁב châshab, khaw-shab’ which means to plot or contrive (usually in a malicious sense); hence (from the mental effort) to think, regard, value, compute:—(make) account (of), conceive, consider, count, cunning (man, work, workman), devise, esteem, find out, forecast, hold, imagine, impute, invent, be like, mean, purpose, reckon(-ing be made), regard, think.  Plans are just that: something imagined or invented.  We can plan all we want but in the end, what will happen is part of God’s ultimate plan.

The word directs comes from the Hebrew word כּוּן kûwn, koon; certain(-ty), confirm, faithfulness, fashion, fasten, firm, be fitted, be fixed, frame, be meet, ordain, order, perfect, (make) preparation, prepare (self), provide, make provision, (be, make) ready, right, set (aright, fast, forth), be stable, (e-) stablish, stand, tarry.  God is fixed and stable.  He stands the same as He did at the beginning of time.  God takes His plan and gives them direction.  We take our plans and lose our direction when the direction is not of God.

God guides the steps of all people, whether they realize it or not.  We can make all the plans in world but without God, those plans are vain.  We need to consult the direction of God in all things.  Even bad circumstances are done for a reason and are worked for the good of God.  Life happens as teachable moments for us.  God helping us to learn to trust His directions over our own.

This year, I don’t know if you are meant to lose weight, find the love of your life, or get that dream career.  What I do know is that God has a plan.  He will reveal that plan in due time.  He will be there for us.  He promises all these things.  He will not lie to us or direct us to sin.  Let 2018 be the year that you drop the resolutions and adopt directions.  Let your direction be controlled by God and have your “life GPS” guided to Heaven above.  Let each new step you make this year be one step closer to a greater relationship with your Father in Heaven.

Our Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the start of this new year.  This is a time for us to start over.  The old year is gone and the new is here.  Let us take our direction and planning from You.  You alone are God and we are frail and fragile.  Our plans are meaningless without You.  I pray that we come to You more before doing anything.  Let us give everything that we have to You as it is already Yours anyways.  Use us in the ways that honor and glorify Your name.

It is in Your name that we can freely pray,

Amen