That night, for whatever reason, she headed up the lawn to the left of the path towards our row of blue spruce trees and out around a pile of rocks at the base of the walk. We told her, "This way." She ignored us. We questioned, "Where are you going?" And she ignored us still. We waited and watched to see what she would do when she blurted out, "Dhere it is!"... She apparently was looking for the path in the dark and nothing looked familiar to her from her perspective.
This got me thinking that... Isn't that just the way it is with us in our Christian walks? We set off on our own, determined to do it ourselves, stumble in the darkness a bit knowing nothing remotely is familiar to us from our limited perspective. But somehow by faith we know our Father has placed a path there for us. And we trust by faith that even though we can't see it we soon will find our way.
Now we were never very far from our baby and would have helped her if she wandered too far out of the way and so it is with our heavenly Father. He is never far away, but in order for us to grow and learn, He sometimes allows us to set off, as it would seem, on our own. (Even traveling on our own steam for a bit without His wind in our sails.) But with us it is impossible to find the path without His intervening. After we wrestle, and struggle, and fight, and wrestle our Father will step in and show us the path. He will hold our hands and help us to walk up the slope along the way.
I am so thankful that our times of struggle are not wasted with Him. He redeems our everything for His purposes. He will be magnified in our lives as we realize how incapable we are of continuing on without Him. He will increase in our lives, He who has begun a good work in us will complete it, and we will decrease.
He MUST increase, and we must decrease! And rest assured, if you are His child, He will make it so.
How much better it is when we willingly yield to His leading,
and walk in the path laid before us in the light of His Word.
"He must increase, WE must decrease!"
This got me thinking that... Isn't that just the way it is with us in our Christian walks? We set off on our own, determined to do it ourselves, stumble in the darkness a bit knowing nothing remotely is familiar to us from our limited perspective. But somehow by faith we know our Father has placed a path there for us. And we trust by faith that even though we can't see it we soon will find our way.
Now we were never very far from our baby and would have helped her if she wandered too far out of the way and so it is with our heavenly Father. He is never far away, but in order for us to grow and learn, He sometimes allows us to set off, as it would seem, on our own. (Even traveling on our own steam for a bit without His wind in our sails.) But with us it is impossible to find the path without His intervening. After we wrestle, and struggle, and fight, and wrestle our Father will step in and show us the path. He will hold our hands and help us to walk up the slope along the way.
I am so thankful that our times of struggle are not wasted with Him. He redeems our everything for His purposes. He will be magnified in our lives as we realize how incapable we are of continuing on without Him. He will increase in our lives, He who has begun a good work in us will complete it, and we will decrease.
He MUST increase, and we must decrease! And rest assured, if you are His child, He will make it so.
How much better it is when we willingly yield to His leading,
and walk in the path laid before us in the light of His Word.
"He must increase, WE must decrease!"
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