A few days ago I was reading a devotional that spoke to my heart about stepping out on faith.  Since it was not long after the previous two posts, it really spoke to my heart and helped me to understand that action is a faith move.  One thing I enjoy doing is walking, especially early in the morning, pre-dawn if possible.  There is something inspiring about moving about, breathing in and absorbing the sounds and sights of a day awakening.  Often it is on these walks, that I get my direction, my Spirit moments when I feel and know God’s presence is with me and speaking to me.  As I walk, sometimes I get the bigger picture of where I am going in this life, not just the view of my neighborhood or the world around me but a glimpse into what God has in store for me.  Then there are plenty of mornings when my face is looking to the ground, and given that I live in the South where snakes and critters are not uncommon to be in one’s pathway, it is a wise thing to keep an eye on the ground, the next place you put your foot.  Herein lies a bit of a paradox.  When we keep our eyes on our feet, our view is narrow and limited to where the next step is going to land.  When we keep our eyes on the broader view around us, we may miss the small holes in the road that may trip us up or miss seeing the snake or critter that is soon to be at our feet.  A wise person learns to look both at the broader things around and the narrow view of what lies just ahead.

Now transfer that imagery to your walk with God.  He wants you to see the bigger picture (Jer. 29:11) but there are times when we have to walk just one step at a time as a faith exercise (Gen.22:8; 2 Cor. 5:7).  I have envisioned this project for a long time.  I didn’t always know how it would get done or by what means.  But the concept of combining words to encourage and pictures of things I see has been in my heart for a long time.  I understood that when I put this out publicly, I would be challenged to keep creating, keep envisioning and with that came fear and doubts that it couldn’t be done, it wouldn’t be received.  And then I went for a walk…I have the bigger view in front of me, but sometimes I just need to keep my focus on one step at a time, because sometimes that is all we get.  It is a bit of a paradox, how can I know where God is taking me if I don’t look up and how can I have faith unless I take things one step at a time?  Like a wise walker, I have to do both, keep my eye on the vision and keep my eye on the path that God is leading me on, trusting that through it all and in it all I will meet my “expected end”.