Ordered Steps

A man’s steps are established by the Lord, and He takes pleasure in his way. - Psalm 37:23

Dr. David Jeremiah once said that when most men turn forty, they look in the mirror at balding heads and expanding waists and realize, “I will never look like I did in high school, and I will never have the money or influence I thought I would when I was in high school.” 

A few years ago, I realized that I hit early middle-age.  I no longer have babies and preschoolers.  College is two decades past.  My children are much cooler than me.  For fun, I still listen to music I enjoyed as a teenager – back in the 1980’s.  My, how fast life moves.

Other realizations come harder.  I don’t have the money and thus spending-power I dreamed about having twenty years ago.  I’m not the President of anything, haven’t written a best-seller, and don’t have 50,000 monthly hits on my blog.  My physique will never appear on the cover of a men’s health magazine. 

However, laying the dreams of youth aside, I can honestly see evidences of the Providence of God in my life through the years.  Timely relationships, provisions, and opportunities remind me of God’s activity in my fairly average life.  Reviewing my journals through the years offers confirmations of the hand of the Lord guarding and guiding. 

King David wrote Psalm 37 as a reminder of how to navigate life’s disappointments.  He exhorts us what to do when unmet expectations arise.  We can shift our focus from daunting circumstances or withered hopes and instead look squarely at the Lord.  He makes our steps firm.  He appoints our days.  He establishes our ways.  And we can trust Him.

The determinations of Providence are always wise, often inscrutable; and, though its decrees appear to bear hard upon us at times, is nevertheless meant for gracious purposes. -  George Washington

Picture used by permission from Pixabay.