Walking By Faith

My good friend, Lauren has a blog called Walking By Faith where she openly talks about her life, love and walk with the Lord. Regardless of the subject matter, Lauren's perspective is always the same - Walking with the Jesus, by complete surrender and faith, "Every second, Every hour, Every Day." I am very blessed and take great encouragement from the metaphorical Walk Lauren shares, but this week I've been overcome with the journey of literally walking by faith - one physical foot in front of the other.

I have been blessed to have done two mountain hikes and one trail run in the past few days. I understand the importance of adequate shoe support on hikes, but if the trail allows, I love to hike in Teva sandals, which I wore on my two hikes this week. Afternoon mountain storms were present on both of the hikes making the ground slippery as well as rocky. On my way up to Hanging Lake on Sunday, I stopped to let a woman step down from one of the seven small bridges on the way up. I stood off to the side as she timidly stepped down from the wooden bridge to the ground - her foot immediately slipped and her weight shifted wrong and she would soon have fallen if God hadn't placed me at that exact place at that exact time to catch her waving arm and steady her once more.

After that sobering reminder of how easily feet slip, I spent the rest of my hike, and the one a few days later seriously pondering the literal sentiment of Walking By Faith. If you've ever taken a mountain hike or walked on an icy path or simply tripped unexpectedly, you've been immediately humbled by how easily your feet can have a mind of their own and you fall victim to gravity.

Every literal step we take is an act of faith. You can have years of experience walking without incident, you can have the right footwear, you can have strong muscles and a clear path where you are headed - but at any point your feet can slip, your ankle can turn, your footing can be lost and you become as wobbly as a toddler. I take great inspiration from Lauren's stories of walking by faith through each step of life, but I would encourage you to be humbled by thinking about your literal steps each day and how they demonstrate God's faithfulness as well. It is not just a metaphor of our spiritual journey but a literal demonstration of our dependence on our great and infinite God!