WALKING WITH GOD
Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:9
Noah did it. Enoch did it. Am I doing it?
God is going in a certain direction. I can’t walk with Him unless I’m going where He’s going. He walks with His back toward sin and His face towards righteousness. If I’m traveling alongside Him, I will also treat sin with hostility.
God is moving in situations; in people I love, in churches I visit or attend, in strangers I encounter. To walk with God is to discern where and how He’s working and then add my part to its progression. I confirm what God is doing by noticing it within someone, giving words to what might be tenuous, and then encouraging that person to travel further in God’s direction.
The work of God can be confusing for someone when it’s in its infant stages. Like all of us, they wonder if it is God they heard. They took a baby step and are timid to take the next one. If I have God eyes and ears for that person, I can verbally pinpoint their fear and applaud how far they’ve come. My engagement with them will give them the courage to take the next step. I love the spiritual definition of friendship. ‘To call out of the deep what is unknown to another.’
To walk with God means we’re not hostile, God and me. “Do two walk together unless they have agree to do so?” (Amos 3:3) God goes where it’s messy. Am I willing to get involved in issues that will take great wisdom to navigate? God knows the power of His Word. Do I? Am I willing to stick my neck out when my only security for success depends on a word from scripture?
I must be building where God is building; not tearing down what He wants to construct. I must be willing to demolish what He hates; not continually patching up what He wants put to death. I must love what He loves; not ridiculing what is dear to Him. I must hate what He hates; not secretly embracing what is repelling to Him.
To believe that I walk with God because one day in 1974 I became a Christian, is foolishness. Walking involves one step at a time. Every 10 seconds, a step is taken either physically or mentally. Was it one God took?
Forgive me when I’m selfish, protecting what is good for me but out of step with You. I do want to go where You go, always. Amen.
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Tuesday, 26 May 2020.
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