Baby steps.
Those wobbly, timidly brave steps that take every bit of concentration, determination and deliberate choice to try something new.
One step eventually leads to two which leads to four and so on, until one looks back to discover they aren’t where they were when they started.
That first step was the entryway to walking and walking to running, until the steps become a way of life, a new way of living. Motion and movement. Newfound freedom. A discovery of what those legs were made for.
What gives a child the courage to set out to use the legs she’s always had but never risked using in this way?
– Readiness. Enough growth has occurred to put her in a place of ability and strength to succeed at it. Newborns can’t walk, but their time will come as their minds and bodies follow the natural process of growth and development.
– Inborn Desire. There is something in a child that tells them there is more to life than sitting and crawling. A longing sense that a sedentary life is not what they were made for.
– The Presence of A Loving Parent. Having someone to be both behind and ahead of them, to start them off, to catch them, to encourage them and to celebrate their accomplishment with clapping hands and open arms. They enjoy the comfort of knowing that even if the process is a little scary and exhausting, they are never alone in their effort.
Baby steps.
As long as we are breathing, we have the ability to continue to take them for the rest of our lives, We get to be brave every day that we choose to listen to the Voice that says, “Come to Daddy.” Our Father calls us to growth, to movement, to experience our “legs” for the purpose for which they were created.
Where we are today gives us the READINESS for what He asks of us tomorrow. He has prepared our hearts and minds for that next wobbly step forward.
That longing inside? That’s that INBORN DESIRE that stirs restelessly within us to move, to discover our developing “limbs” and use them for what they were intended.
We have the ultimate LOVING PARENT both behind and before us, taking every step with us, cheering us on and ready to catch us when we fall or fail. Knowing this gives us the reassurance we need to take that first step, our arms flailing wildly, but pointed upward to the Face that grins widely at our trust and bravery.
This week, my precious sister-in-law sent me this quote:
“This is the blessed life – not anxious to see far in front, nor earner to choose the path, but quietly following behind the Shepherd, one step at a time. The Shepherd was always out in front of the sheep. He was down in front. Any attack upon them had to take him into account. Now God is down in front. He is in the tomorrows. It is tomorrow that fills men with dread. God is there already. All the tomorrows of our life have to pass Him before they can get to us.” – F.B. Meyer
Baby steps each day into the unknown but well-protected tomorrow. Intentional courage within the arms of unconditional love.
One little step at a time….
Philippians 1:6 – And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
Ephesians 3:20 – Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Psalm 37:23 – The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
– N
