Kaylah took her “first steps” quite a few weeks ago now.  She has been “walking” back and forth between two of her family members as we hold out our hands to her and cheer her progress.  But today she decided to venture out on her own.  Several different times, she took quite a few steps all on her own without our prompting.  She seems to have gained some confidence and I predict she’ll be toddling around the house after her siblings before very long.  Watch out world – here comes sweet Kaylah!

Watching the process of Kaylah learning to walk has made me think tonight of our walk with Jesus.  Really, our life with Him is hugely based on trust and confidence.  If we truly believe He is our loving, strong Saviour who has our best interest in mind, we won’t hesitate keep walking with Him in faith even (and especially!) when life seems bleak.  The last few weeks have been a pretty intense time in our lives and ministry.  We can’t share details here but the situations we have faced and are still facing have been very challenging to our faith.  I love the story of Peter walking on water.  When he took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink into the waves.  Yet Jesus was so gracious and reached out and pulled him up again.  At times in the last few weeks, I have felt the “waves” of discouragement, confusion and sadness threatening to pull me down and take my gaze off Christ.  He has been so amazing to speak to us through His Word and gently lift our eyes to Him.  I have been greatly enjoying some resources by Paul David Tripp and Timothy Lane.  The book, Relationships, A Mess Worth Making has been such a powerful challenge and encouragement and I just started another one called, How People Change. The material has been so relevant and challenging.  Here is a quote from what I read today in How People Change. It follows on from a discussion of Philippians 1:3-11 . . . especially verse 6 (He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.):

“Life is seldom simple. Growth in God’s grace is a process and not an event.  Tough things are not going to turn around overnight because you have entrusted them to the Lord.  The Bible is honest in its description of how grave and comprehensive our war with sin is.  Individuals, friendships, churches, marriages and neighborhoods don’t turn around in a moment.  The Bible describes life as a journey that often takes us through the wilderness.  You will get tired and confused.  You will have moments when you wonder where God is.  You will struggle to see God’s promises at work in your life.  You will feel that following God has brought you more suffering that blessing.  You will go through moments when it seems as if the principles of Scripture don’t work.  It will sometimes seem as if the wrong side wins.  There will be moments when you feel alone and misunderstood.  There will be times when you feel like quitting.

This passage is meant to encourage you to be full of hope in the midst of things you don’t fully understand.  You don’t have to figure everything out. You do need to know and trust the One who does understand and who knows exactly what he is doing.” (p. 36)

So, like Kaylah is learning to walk, we are learning to keep walking in faith with our eyes on Him.  Never once did we ever walk alone . . . never once did you leave us on our own.  You are faithful, God you are faithful.