Watch Your Step

Isaiah 30:21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 

A year ago I was leaving the elementary school where I teach piano to go grab a quick lunch between students. I decided to take a shortcut across part of the schoolyard instead of taking the sidewalk to the gate that leads to the parking lot. As I stepped onto the grass, I noticed a few feet ahead of me a nice-sized hole in the ground, and it looked deep- definitely something to avoid. Seconds later I was sprawled on the ground—cell phone, purse and car keys flying in different directions, and my right ankle immediately began to throb. What could have just happened? I had just stepped off the walk, and I had my eyes on that big hole I knew would be trouble. What I had failed to see was a small hole just off the sidewalk, obscured by the grass. It looked innocent enough, but a few hours, a few x-rays, and a visit with an orthopedist later, my leg was encased in an air cast to immobilize my fractured right ankle for the next six weeks. This was a painful price to pay to save a few steps to the car.

Now picture this in your journey through this life. God has the path laid out for you, a path of faith, trust, and obedience to each step He reveals to us through His Word and through our time in prayer with Him. We know our enemy, the devil himself, has set out traps and pitfalls. Some are huge- those big, ugly sins that we know we should not do, and we watch ourselves to avoid those. But as much as the enemy would love to catch us in a big snare- a person in leadership caught embezzling funds or maybe even a pastor or other prominent Christian leader caught betraying the vows of fidelity he made to his wife, satan knows he can do more damage to the kingdom with the little snares. Those things seem so innocent, yet before we know it, our lives are sprawled out in a spiritual mess because we gradually drifted off the path.

The drift is almost imperceptible at the beginning, even a bit innocent. Let’s say you’ve had a really hectic day with work, maybe kids that need to be three different places at the same time, dinner to get on the table at some point, homework, baths-and the next thing you know you are falling exhausted into bed, and you realize that your Bible study is still waiting for you on the coffee table or kitchen counter. You feel guilty, but sleep is calling, so you think, “I’ll catch up tomorrow. It won’t hurt just once.” But then there’s another crazy day, and another. You feel the guilt, the pull to make things right, but not as strong as before. And while you still tell yourself, “I’ll get right back on it tomorrow,” tomorrow keeps getting pushed away until one day day you realize something’s just not right. Things may be frustrating you more than usual; things just aren’t going your way, and when you do stop to breathe a prayer, you feel that it just bounces off the ceiling, going nowhere. Where did God go? Why isn’t He listening anymore? Drift, my friend, drift.

Or consider this. It’s been a busy week, and Saturday is no better. One child has soccer games all day, another has an extra dance rehearsal all afternoon to prepare for a performance. When you finally all come together on Saturday night, one of them announces that he/she has a reading project due on Monday morning- and has known for a month- AND has just started reading the book. You see hours and hours of work ahead of you to get this ready. So you think, “We’re going to have to stay home from church to do this. Besides, we’re all worn out from the week. It won’t hurt this once.” But once or twice is all it takes for the enemy to get his foot in the door, and he will use every seemingly innocent reason to pull you farther and farther away from that time of worship and fellowship with other believers, and feeding on the Word together. And again, one day you find yourself questioning why you don’t feel God as closely as you did. Even worse, you begin to meet resistance from your family when Sunday comes around. “Oh, do we have to go?” “Can’t we just stay at home and play it on the computer while I play on my iPad?” “Can’t we just ______________?” Again, the drift has come. And when it comes to our families, that drift can have eternal consequences.

But here’s the good news. The drift does not have to last forever, and while at this moment, at this time and place in the journey, you may feel hopelessly lost, you aren’t. There is a way back. As long as there’s life, there is hope. And that hope is found in the arms of our loving Father, who has had His eyes on you every second and is just waiting for you to say, “Help me get back. I can’t do this by myself.” Then take the first step back. Pick up that Bible study, and be intentional in making it a priority in your day. Get up, no matter how tired you may feel, get that family dressed, and go to church, and do it again the next week, and the next. Be as vulnerable and transparent as you dare with a trusted friend, and ask them to pray for you as you reset your course and get back on the path. The drift did not happen overnight, and it will take time.  It won’t be easy and very likely may be painful, but before you know it, you will once again hear  God whispering in your ear the words from Isaiah, “This is the way. Now walk in it.”