Walking With God

My dog Tasha loved to go for walks. Well, we had to call them "W's." If the word WALK got mentioned prematurely, she would start yelping and spinning in circles. But the truth is, I loved going for walks just as much as she did.

A walk around the neighborhood was a wonderful opportunity to breathe in the fresh air and scope out the various flower gardens along the way. But, sometimes when Tasha and I would saunter along, I would get so preoccupied looking around me that I'd forget to keep my eyes on the path. As you well know, every now and again you will come upon a spot in a sidewalk that has either sunken down a bit or has risen up slightly. If I wasn't paying attention, I could find myself tripping, twisting an ankle, or worse yet, sprawled out in an embarrassing heap.

Sometimes that's what happens as I travel along on my walk of faith with God as well. In fact, just days after giving a Thursday morning Bible study lecture it happened! I had been running errands with my husband for an entire morning and it was making me a bit crabby. To make matters worse, black clouds had rolled in and it started to pour! When we finally got to the grocery store, I asked Rey to drop me off at the front door so I could run in quickly and pick up the items I needed. Zipping through the aisles, I felt quite proud of myself as I stood in the check-out lane in just under two minutes. But, when I got to the door and peered out into the parking lot through the deluge of rain, I couldn't find our car anywhere. As I stood there, I grew a bit agitated to think that my husband hadn't been watching for me, so I walked out underneath the awning and paced back and forth hoping to catch his attention. Exasperated that he was still not responding, I decided to make a mad dash into the parking lot to search for the car. Only, when I finally did find it, I discovered that it was empty and the doors were locked. Soaked to the skin and growing more irritated by the minute, I stomped my way back into the store and situated myself in front of the check-out lanes, and waited. With arms crossed and my blood pressure mounting, I didn't think to pay attention to the precarious path I was treading. Instead, the minute I caught sight of Rey, I raised my arm to get his attention, giving him one of those "if looks could kill" stares, and marched out to the parking lot.

Needless to say, our conversation in the car wasn't the most pleasant one we've ever had. And by the time we arrived home, my heart was sprawled out in a heap of shame for treating my husband so disrespectfully.It wasn't until my head hit the pillow that night, however, that I realized I had performed that lovely act in front of the grocery store's jam-packed checkout lanes. I was mortified!!

Circumstances like this one remind me of how vitally important it is for us to watch where we are going as we walk through this world as believers! Our sinful nature, that is so prone to pettiness and poor behavior, has a way of jutting up on the path before us, and if we are not consciously paying attention, that old nature of ours will trip us up every time. My prayer is that you will not find yourself in a heap of shame like I found myself!