Walking Partner

Lately, I have become more aware of words, themes, and concepts that appear in my reading repeatedly. Today’s concept is ‘walk.’ I read in the Jesus Calling for today, “I set the pace in keeping with your needs and My purposes.” Then my email devotion from Greg Laurie was all about What It Means to Walk with God.

As a preschool teacher, I have gone on many walks with children. As the teacher, I set the pace or at least try to. There are still children who walk faster to get ahead of you. Who then get reminded to walk behind the teacher. There are others who do not understand what it means to walk behind the people in front of you, so they are always off to the side somewhere. They then repeatedly get brought back into line. Then there are those who are way in the back and we (the class) have to stop and wait for them to catch up to us.

As a teacher, I have a reason or a purpose for the walk. Often it is to look at nature, notice the change in the seasons. I will often slow our pace and make comments about leaves on the trees, flowers growing in a yard or ice forming on a puddle.

Until today’s devotions, I had never thought about God setting the pace for my walk. My faith walk. He knows when I need to slow down. When I need to stop and rest. He knows when I need to stop and notice things or people around me. He knows when I am strong enough to hurry my pace or manage a steeper climb.

He has a purpose for my walk. Often it is a purpose I do not know until I see it in hindsight. But it is His purpose FOR me. He knows where I am going. Where We are going.

As His walking partner, it is important that I stay in step with Him. If I get too far ahead of Him, I may end up where He did not intend for me to go. If I am not paying attention to Him and what he wants to show me, I will miss some very important lessons and moments. If I am walking too far behind Him, I am not doing my part to listen closely to what He is teaching me and I again I will miss it.

As the Bible often calls Him, Jesus is our teacher. “I set the pace in keeping with your needs and My purposes.” Jesus Calling.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for knowing me so well. I trust that you have a purpose for me and that you are setting the pace based on what I need. Please forgive me when I get impatient and think I know better and try to take the lead. Forgive me for grumbling when I think the pace is going too slow and I want to speed up. Thank you for always being my walking partner. In Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.