Watching My Step
I love to run on the trail near my house. It's a quiet, peaceful, hilly old dirt road that allows me to clear my mind, pray in peace, appreciate nature, and get a little exercise.
So I took off early one morning this week, excited about a not-as-often-as-I-would-like run. I was talking to God, enjoying the calm morning, filling my lungs with some pollen-laden oxygen...
and that's when I saw the snake.
He wasn't big, but he definitely filled me with fear. He didn't look angry; he was just chilling over to the side, not even really looking at me. He was totally calm. I was shaking. Terrified. Because he was a copperhead. A COPPERHEAD!!!
Seeing that snake changed the rest of my run. No longer was I looking up at the trees, trying to see a bird, or pondering God's glory as He revealed some gorgeous wildlife. I couldn't even really focus on my prayers or anything else for that manner. I was watching for one thing: snakes. Literally every thought focused on snakes, watching each footfall, analyzing every stick, rock, and leaf as something that might bite me. I have never been so happy to be back on the "safe" pavement.
But as I ended my run I had one thought, which sounded just like something God would say: snakes are always on the trail. (I hadn't really thought about that before. And I wish I hadn't had that thought.) I knew snakes were always on the trail. I was just more aware of it because I actually came face-to-face with one.
That reality truly hit home when I got back to the house and my husband met me at the door and told me that a precious 23-year-old girl from our church had been killed in a car wreck. Danger from driving a car is always there. We're just more aware of it when a tragic accident happens.
Snakes and driving dangers aren't the only things that surround us: sin, temptation, evil, death, disease, and a host of other things seem to crash down around us. And though mentally we're aware that they exist, we aren't really mindful of them until we come face-to-face with one of them.
But there's something else that's always with me: God. He promised Jacob, "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you," (Genesis 28:15, HCSB). And it wasn't just a promise for Jacob; Jesus said, "remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age," (Matthew 28:20, HCSB). Did you see that? It says always.
So if Jesus is always with me, why am I not more aware of it? I might need to search my own heart: When was the last time I had a face-to-face with Christ? When was the last time I heard Him speak to me through His Word or in a prayer? When was the last time I seriously felt His peace in worship? When was the last time I was His hands and feet as I served someone who could in no way repay me?
Because it's following moments such as these that I focus on Him with my every step.
When it comes to snakes, I keep my eyes on the ground. But if I want to see God taking an active role in my life, the secret is to look up:
"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up," (Psalm 5:3, KJV). In a different version we get this: "At daybreak, Lord, You hear my voice; at daybreak I plead my case to You and watch expectantly," (HCSB).
Experience His love through prayer and searching each morning, when your day begins. Look up expectantly as you go throughout your day. Know He is there!
Notebook with me!
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
So I took off early one morning this week, excited about a not-as-often-as-I-would-like run. I was talking to God, enjoying the calm morning, filling my lungs with some pollen-laden oxygen...
and that's when I saw the snake.
He wasn't big, but he definitely filled me with fear. He didn't look angry; he was just chilling over to the side, not even really looking at me. He was totally calm. I was shaking. Terrified. Because he was a copperhead. A COPPERHEAD!!!
Seeing that snake changed the rest of my run. No longer was I looking up at the trees, trying to see a bird, or pondering God's glory as He revealed some gorgeous wildlife. I couldn't even really focus on my prayers or anything else for that manner. I was watching for one thing: snakes. Literally every thought focused on snakes, watching each footfall, analyzing every stick, rock, and leaf as something that might bite me. I have never been so happy to be back on the "safe" pavement.
But as I ended my run I had one thought, which sounded just like something God would say: snakes are always on the trail. (I hadn't really thought about that before. And I wish I hadn't had that thought.) I knew snakes were always on the trail. I was just more aware of it because I actually came face-to-face with one.
That reality truly hit home when I got back to the house and my husband met me at the door and told me that a precious 23-year-old girl from our church had been killed in a car wreck. Danger from driving a car is always there. We're just more aware of it when a tragic accident happens.
Snakes and driving dangers aren't the only things that surround us: sin, temptation, evil, death, disease, and a host of other things seem to crash down around us. And though mentally we're aware that they exist, we aren't really mindful of them until we come face-to-face with one of them.
But there's something else that's always with me: God. He promised Jacob, "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you," (Genesis 28:15, HCSB). And it wasn't just a promise for Jacob; Jesus said, "remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age," (Matthew 28:20, HCSB). Did you see that? It says always.
So if Jesus is always with me, why am I not more aware of it? I might need to search my own heart: When was the last time I had a face-to-face with Christ? When was the last time I heard Him speak to me through His Word or in a prayer? When was the last time I seriously felt His peace in worship? When was the last time I was His hands and feet as I served someone who could in no way repay me?
Because it's following moments such as these that I focus on Him with my every step.
When it comes to snakes, I keep my eyes on the ground. But if I want to see God taking an active role in my life, the secret is to look up:
"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up," (Psalm 5:3, KJV). In a different version we get this: "At daybreak, Lord, You hear my voice; at daybreak I plead my case to You and watch expectantly," (HCSB).
Experience His love through prayer and searching each morning, when your day begins. Look up expectantly as you go throughout your day. Know He is there!
Notebook with me!
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
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