Stepping boldly where our Lord leads

Jenny, aged three or four, dressed in denim overalls, white long-sleeved t-shirt, and well-worn canvas shoes, strides forward confidently along a dusty country road, followed closely by cousin Joe, aged seven or eight. Field rows flank both sides, and it looks like these two are in the middle of nowhere. My daughter walks boldly forward, chin up and eyes closed (or she's blinking or looking down). Joe's smile is soft and his eyes track sideways as he watches Jenny's progress, just a step or two behind, for all the world—her protector.

When my brother moved to Florida to attend seminary, his family lived in the middle of a peanut farm. He rented from the farmer. The house was small and well-built, and the family had plenty of "stretching out room" amidst acres of sandy fields. My memories center around infrequent visits and weekly conversations by telephone with Eddie—those were good years for him but filled with the constant struggles of bi-vocational ministry and intense study to "show thyself approved." The setting eased the burden of those struggles.

We live life forwards, but we remember life backwards, like looking at old pictures, jarring us into times past. Flipping through the mental albums reminds us we pass these ways but once. My daughter is a behavioral health therapist now. Joe is a lieutenant firefighter/paramedic. My brother died too young.

Lately, I watch videos of people walking the Camino on YouTube, some with commentary but many with music only. The paths follow rivers or cut through forests of eucalyptus trees or parallel cultivated vineyards. Some of the roads lead through villages, others through towns and cities. Most show paired walkers, one filming the journey and the other a few steps ahead. The walkers identify as pilgrims, and for highly personal reasons, they trek toward Santiago de Compostela. In the moment, the video documents the present. Later, they will watch their video from a future time to recall the meanings of their pilgrimage.

Life is like that, isn't it? We walk the path before us. We look back later and remember, rightly or wrongly based on memory and the aid of captured images burned in our minds. We determine to stay the course or adjust our way into a future we cannot know. And for many of us, we walk with another, sometimes a bit ahead or a little behind, although at the best of times, we journey side by side. I am writing about the One God, the Almighty who sees and knows past, present, and future, the Lord God who numbers our hairs and our days, who walks with us and who loves with an everlasting love.

From an early age, I have counted on the assurance of Proverbs 3:5-6, memorized during Bible Drills and recalled almost daily since then: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."

I long to walk so closely aligned with my God so as to hear His voice in my ear when I move to the right or the left, guiding me in the way I should walk: "This is the way…" (Isaiah 30:21). I desire to feel His refreshment of my soul as He guides me along "paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Psalm 23:3). I count on the promise of my Lord in Psalm 37:22-24 that He makes my steps firm and I will not fall, even when I stumble, because He will uphold me. How glorious, and how affirming—I do not have to know where my path leads because I know and serve the One God who does know. And He is faithful and true!

With Kathy at my side, we will soon walk our Caminho Português de Santiago, following an ancient route from Porto, Portugal to Santiago, Spain. We have no big important goals for the journey, no checklist of "musts" to accomplish along the pilgrim path. We desire only to take time away from the ordinary and listen for the extraordinary words the Lord has for us now—at this stage of life. We will walk together, sometimes one a bit ahead or a little behind. I hope to carry in my backpack only the essentials and gain the untold riches of a life dedicated to the One whose name I have called upon since a nine-year-old Jimmy trusted the Savior for salvation. As I leave all preconceptions behind, I hope to discern His voice telling me the way to go.

In Portuguese, pilgrims greet one another with smiles and the words "Bom Caminho." In Spanish, pilgrims say "Buen Camino." In English, the salutation means, literally, "good way," but essentially travelers along the way wish each other a good life, a beneficial path forward.

I pray the same for each of you along your varied paths through life. May we all listen carefully and closely to the still small voice of our Lord God as we step boldly where He leads.

By Jim Edminson, Editor of Charity and Children