Connections

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:9-10 NIV

Last night in a forgetful moment, I went for my walk around the neighborhood sans cellphone, wallet or keys. In fact, I didn’t even don a baseball cap to ward off the stray shower which in Florida, we are so prone to have. I breathed in deeply of the air, now clean from the recently ended heavy thunderstorms and cool by August standards as the sun had almost set. Then my mind turned back to my exploring days as a ten-year old out on a summer afternoon.

Then, I had no wallet, mainly because I didn’t own one. If I needed money for the Saturday matinee, Mom would slip me a quarter for the movies and if I was lucky, another dime to buy some popcorn. We kids didn’t even have Social Security numbers, and if anyone needed to know our identity, they just asked our parents. And of course, we had no cell phones. They weren’t even invented yet and even our house phones were pretty much reserved for adults. The most I ever got to say was, “Thanks for the swell Christmas present Gammy” and then, “Gotta go. Here’s my mom.” Maybe most amazing of all to our modern readers, I had no keys. Who needed them? Our house was never locked!

When we were out at the beach, the neighbor even sometimes stopped in to borrow an egg or a cup of sugar when she was baking a cake. No, our lives were far from perfect, but we possessed a treasure of trust that we didn’t even know we had and is now lost forever. We trusted that whatever we had was enough and that our parents knew who we were. We depended on our friends to get help if we got in trouble (which was pretty often) and we believed that we were safe enough to leave the house unlocked because the bad guys had been defeated in the war and now the good ones were in charge.

And God reminded me this morning that, though that world has disappeared forever, He has not changed. He always knows exactly what we need and will take care of us even in the farthest corner of the earth. And our true identity is safely hidden with Christ in God. Even when we forget, God remembers who He has made us to be. And last and best of all; God listens. When our cell phones go dead and the internet goes down, we stay connected to God. There is no place on earth where we need to ask, “Can you hear me now?” because He is with us always and forever. Finally, we must believe that the cross of Calvary has unlocked the door to God’s house and that it stands open for all who will come. He is always home. God is waiting for us to grow weary from play. He watches for us to come safely home with the assurance that we are welcome, we are expected, and that our place is set at Heaven’s dinner table for all who put their trust in Him!

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 NIV

Walking is so much a part of my daily routine that I guess someone might categorize me as a “walkaholic.” Not that I walk terribly far, because as I have gotten older the distance thing is out. But everywhere we have traveled, every neighborhood we have lived in I have walked. I have walked streets in Brazil, Nepal, Switzerland and India. I have walked around hotels, around town at my sister-in-law’s and every park within 15 miles. Of course, there is nothing spiritual about putting one foot in front of the other, but there are I think God likes to walk. In fact, throughout the Bible lots of people walked with God. All through the Bible people walked with God. Noah, walked faithfully with God (And got to build an ark!) Abraham was told to walk before the Lord. David even asked God to show Him His paths (see Psalm 25). In today’s verse, the Prophet Micah tells us to walk humbly with the Lord. So, what is there about walking that is important?

First walking says, “I am here!” I am sad after spending 30 minutes walking and see no one else outdoors except an occasional dogwalker. There are few children playing, no one in the gardens or cooking on the grill. All the garage doors are closed, and everyone is inside. It feels as if people are missing any connection to the place God has put them.

Secondly, when we walk, we tell others we are available. At first, it is difficult to get a smile or wave returned when we say good morning but stick with it. Peter and John healed a lame man while they were out on a walk. Jesus hiked over to a nearby village and there raised a widow’s son from the dead and He called Matthew to follow Him as He passed him on a city street. Walking connects us to where God puts us, and it also connects us to His purpose for putting us there – other people!

Last of all, God asks us to walk because it takes us out of our home and moves us closer to His. After all, in the book of Genesis we find out that Enoch walked with God and the Bible says, “God took him.” Now that’s either the shortest or the longest walk in history. “Hey honey I’m going out for my walk!” Enoch calls to his wife and then suddenly poof – he’s gone! Oh but the distance he and God traveled that day was immeasurable. “Hey Enoch, check out those thunder clouds,” or “How do you like this view of the Milky Way?” That has only happened twice in history but whether God takes us home directly while we are out of our house on the way to His is His choice. What matters is opening our doors, taking a step outside and walking where He leads! Have a blessed day walking with the Lord! I hope you will enjoy the photos of just a few of the places that I have gone for a walk.