walk by faith

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Going for a "walk!" is one of this little guy's favorite things to do these days. Picking "flow-ders," watching "cars!" go "bvroommmm" past us while we pause on the sidewalk to watch each one, unable to successfully differentiate between cars and trucks, and yet always asking where the "digger" is.

A tractor drives by and a big toothy grin looks up at me as he says, "WOWW!!" And we keep walking.

He's not a big fan of holding my hand while we're just walking, but when we get to a bump in the road (or in the yard), and usually at each transition between the two, he reaches up his hand towards me.

He doesn't look up.

He blindly extends his arm upward; he stays focused on the bump or grassy knoll ahead, but holds his hand open, knowing and trusting that I'll grab ahold and help him over the more challenging terrain. Every time.

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"for we walk by faith, not by sight." ~2 Corinthians 5:7

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I snapped this picture of him doing exactly that... and because it took me longer than usual to grab his hand, he looked up at me (second picture - see bottom of post), seemingly making sure I was there and able to help him.
 

It reminded me that more often than not, our dependence on God looks a lot like this: 

Our heavenly Father wants us to just hold his hand all the time - he's always there walking with us, and his hand is always available to us. Yet, our independent spirits cause us to want to keep walking on our own, only extending our hands to hold on to his when we encounter bumps or transitions in the road. And, at a bump when it seems God takes longer to respond than we think he ought to, then (and only then) do we actually look up towards him to take in his presence. Comforted when we see him still there, we keep going. But we need that reassurance. Unfortunately, it took a bump in the road and a slow response to get us to that point. Why are we so slow to learn?

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And then again, this little routine of his reminds me of what it looks like practically to "walk by faith and not by sight." Isn't that exactly what he's doing when he lifts his hand towards me in expectant trust, wordlessly asking for my help and trusting it's available to him at a second's notice? It really is a beautiful thing, and I don't want to take any of these precious moments of his hand in mine for granted. 

May we go through this Sunday (and this week) with our hands extended upwards, with the comfort of knowing our God is walking with us, and with the trust of a toddler who simply extends his trusting hand knowing there's help not only when we feel we need it, but all the time. Praise God for sweet glimpses of gospel truths in the everyday "walks!" 



#spreadtheword
#holdmyhand
#walkbyfaith

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