Traveling with Firm Footing - Martin Wiles

He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights. Psalm 18:33 NLT

Where I walk determines how I travel.

I learned the art of careful walking when I backpacked in the mountains. Trails were littered with rocks, roots, and dead leaves, making the path uneven and slippery. If I wasn’t careful, I would twist my ankle, get my foot caught on a root, or slip on wet leaves. More than once, my feet magically disappeared from under me.

Having to watch my step while hiking made me wish I was like a deer. While visiting our friends in Henderson, Colorado, we traveled to the Rocky Mountain State Park. The mountains are aptly named and peered at us through the car window as we wound around the curves. Suddenly, they were there, and we pulled to the side of the road for a better view. Mountain goats. But they were like deer—surefooted. They scaled the rocky surfaces—never slipping, as I would have.

I doubt the psalmist was actually referring to God giving him the ability to climb a mountain without falling, although he was familiar with mountains. The mountains he needed help climbing are similar to mine: financial, spiritual, emotional, relational, educational, and parental. I’ve discovered life is filled with such mountains. The psalmist scaled them because God sured up his feet.

Slipping on the mountains I climb is inevitable if I don’t let God help me scale the heights. Through prayer, meditation on His Word, and wise counsel, God gives me wisdom to know the right step to take. Even when I neglect these things and fall, He’s more than happy to pick me up, steady my feet, and nudge me along.

Although I sometimes fall out of neglect, I periodically fall because God lets me. Falls teach me important lessons. I need to pray before I make decisions. When I make decisions that take me out of God’s will, He will discipline me because He loves me. Occasionally, God leads me over rocky slippery paths to prepare me for an upcoming assignment.

While it’s my responsibility to watch the path I’m traveling, God will give me sure footing so I can travel it.

Travel your life paths with confidence. God will give you sure footing to walk down each one.

Prayer: Father, we trust You to give us the ability to travel each path You lead us down. 

Tweetable: Is your footing firm as you walk? 

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