The Next Good Step

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.  Psalm 119:105
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I’ve always loved this verse from Psalm 119, and I associate it with that picture of a sandal footed man carrying a lantern walking down a dark path.  The thing about that lamp though, is that it really only lights up the next step and not much beyond it.  The lamp is great, but it doesn’t illuminate the whole journey…it just gives enough light to do the next thing.  God is that light for us but like the lamp, he only reveals the next step, and we have to trust him with the rest but there are so many times I think I’d be a better disciple if I knew what was coming so I could prepare and make a plan. 
 
Sometimes our human nature wants to plan, organize and prepare.  We like to have choices and weigh our options, usually looking for things that are most comfortable and convenient.  Those things chip away at our surrender and trust and make it more difficult to be overwhelmed by the loving care of the Father.  We pick straightforward and He chooses loops and sidetracks which always contain surprises.  We pick what’s good for us and He gives us tricky and yucky and sad in order to draw us close to his love and protection.  We pick predictable while He picks surprising.  We pick comfortable and He picks bold and uncomfortable.  He does all these things because He knows what we need beyond the next step, and He knows how we need to be formed so we can take that step.
Twelve years ago, He led me to write the first Joyful Words post and He’s been leading me ever since.  Each post is literally like that lamp just showing the next post and not beyond.  I don’t have a file of pre-written future blogs; I just trust Him to send me what He wants typed always hoping I’m careful to use His words trusting they will be the message one of His beloved needs to hear.  A dozen years is a long time to do something you never planned to do in the first place but as long as the Holy Spirit keeps sending words, I’ll keep typing them. As I prepare to write the 12th year of posts, I decided to do a little googling and discovered that the number 12 in Scripture is symbolic of perfection, entirety and order.  I giggled thinking this blog is not those three things but maybe He can use my perfectly imperfect words to touch a heart.  The blogs don’t contain His entire message and teaching but hopefully He’ll help me pick a piece that speaks encouragement and truth.  As far as order goes, I hope the posts are a weekly reminder about putting God first in the order of our days. The googling also reminded me that there were 12 tribes of Israel, 12 gates and 12 foundations to the New Jerusalem, and there were 12 Apostles.   That’s a lot of important twelves! Again and again, He reminds us he is the gate, the foundation, the leader and the way the truth and the light.  Thanks to the number twelve for some great reminders.
 
As each blog anniversary rolls around, I wonder how much longer He’ll ask me to write, and I realize the answer is much like the lamp that just shows the next step. As I begin writing for the twelfth year my understanding with the Holy Spirit remains the same; I’ll keep writing as long as people keep reading.  Hopefully we can all grab a thought or two that can help us take that next good step.
 
A Seed To Plant:  Spend some time praying with this scripture verse and the image of illuminating the next good step.
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Blessings on your day!