Every Step – Closer To Home
I was out for a run this morning (let’s go back and count how many times I start a blog with that phrase…). It seemed like I was getting farther and farther away from my house and I was getting tired. I just couldn’t wait until I was able to turn the corner and start heading towards home. Just as that sense came across, I felt the Lord stop my thinking and make a gentle correction. He said, “Every step you take is another step closer to home.” I knew by how He said it that it was about way more than just my run…
What He was showing me was that every step, every moment, every breath of my life is a step closer to Home. It may feel like I am running away from home, but even those steps are towards Home. Life can sure be hard (understatement alert!). It may feel like a difficult season. I may feel tired. But those steps taken in distress (or should I say especially those steps), even though it doesn’t feel like it at the time, are still taking us closer. Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”
Many times I feel like I need to turn the corner to start heading for home, but He was saying that every step I take is towards Home. It feels like when I finally turn for home that I am in the ‘home stretch’. But there are still potential obstacles to face. As I turned this morning, I found that the wind was coming strongly into my face. It was hard! As I got closer to my physical home, I also was stopped by a traffic light…Ughhh…more waiting! Proverbs 20:24 says, “A man’s steps are of the Lord; How then can a man understand his own way?”
Every time I looked into the distance to see my destination (an unseen destination at this point in the run), it felt like it would never end. Home felt so far away! But something happened as I connected with Jesus with me there. I looked to my right and He was there; running step for step with me; perfectly synchronized. Whenever I looked ahead and felt tired and overwhelmed, He gently directed me back to Him. Synchronized with Him.
It felt a lot like Hebrews 12:1-2. “Let us lay aside every weight and sin which so easily ensnares us.” We have stuff that we carry. Those “weights” burden us down and have us longing for Home. In Immanuel we talk about the wounds, and lies, and sin that prevent our hearts from receiving Jesus’ perfect, unflagging love. So the answer lies in verse 12:2; “looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.” He knows our steps. Every day of our lives has been written by Him in our book (Psalm 139:16). He wrote out our steps and He knows how it ends.
And the best news of all is that He doesn’t do it begrudgingly, or reluctantly. He does it with a smile on His face! “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.” (Psalm 37:23)