Each Step Ordered by the Lord

      By Fern Horst

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed." (Psalm 37:23-26)

When my father was in third world countries as a missionary before he was married, he observed something that I have heard him comment on many times since. Although he saw many beggars, he never saw anyone he knew to be a Christian begging for food or money. God truly does not forsake His own, though many times we live with a fear that He has or will abandon us personally.

Reading these verses in Psalms today encouraged me greatly. My steps through life are ordered by the Lord and He has promised that I will never be "utterly cast down" because He holds me with His hand. What a tremendous comfort that is to me! Based on His faithfulness in the past, and His promises for the future, I have the courage to go on.

There are many things that discourage or worry us: financial insufficiencies, health problems, relationship difficulties, church issues, being alone, not knowing where to live or work, and so on. But as we look back on our lives we can see God's hand at work leading us and providing for us. It may not have always been in ways we had anticipated or even wanted, but if we are God's children He has taken care of us in multiple creative ways. He hasn't abandoned us.

I realize more and more as I walk through life, and as time seems to pass more quickly with each year, that we are on a journey here on this earth. We keep trying to make it a destination by settling into our little nests of homes and work, and we judge our experiences by that perspective. We ask ourselves, "Is this all there is?" The answer, of course, is "no." This isn't all there is.

When we incorporate the perspective that this life is a journey rather than a destination, we begin to see more clearly God's hand at work leading us and preparing us. So what if our finances barely seem to reach here - our final destination will have all that we need in abundance. Our health issues here are only temporary, since in heaven our new bodies will be perfect. Church problems and relationship issues will be nonexistent in heaven, where there will be no sinful natures to conflict with each other.

Our steps are being ordered by the Lord - not for our flawless comfort here, but to lead us and prepare us for our final and perfect destination in heaven.

"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:23)

© 2006 Fern Horst

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