How to Walk When We Can Barely Stand
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Just walk slow. I coaxed my body off of the spin bike and gradually made my way over to the next station, wobbling like a toddler trying to make it across the room to the first thing they can land on for stability. But instead of mentally bowing out … just keep moving …I told myself. Getting in shape is painful, but it’s a good kind of pain. The feeling of accomplishment in knowing every step taken to care for the lives we’ve been given will be blessed. Just as I had teammates sailing through miles with me as a young distance runner, God has faithfully placed friends to “gym” with, and it makes all the difference. High fives and laughs over how hard things are makes everything seem just a little more possible.
God has made each of us intentionally, with specific purpose. Upon our surrender to Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit begins to peel back the layers of grime this world intentionally covers us up with, until we shine as we were meant to all along. We change when we follow Christ, but God’s love for us remains the same at the beginning of our transformation until the end when He welcomes us home to heaven. We are broken down, to be built back up stronger.
“This world will have its trouble,” Jesus ensured us in John 16:33, “but take heart, I have overcome it!” He also warned us about our enemy, who is much more dangerous than the cartoonish figure we envision on our shoulder begging us to give up, and arguing for the world’s standards over Christ’s. “The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy,” Jesus said in John 10:10, “but I have come to give you life to the full.”
When our legs are wobbly, we can look around and know God’s placed us within a community to high-five us on the way to the next workout station. He’s faithful to strengthen us, if only we will trust Him and obey His Word. Each and every day, only God knows what lies ahead. He faithfully goes before us, preparing the way. There is no greater love than His,
As the apostles were witnesses to the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, so are we. The work God is doing through us is purposeful. As His people, we are set apart. The more of a work the Holy Spirit does in our lives, the more noticeably we stand out. When we are tempted to wobble through isolation and criticism of the ways we don’t fit in or make sense to the world, find a quiet place to remember we are never alone. In fact, remember: the very power of the Living God lives in us!
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