Get Ready and Stay Ready

I’ve taken many “walks” in life—from military walks earlier on to the Walk to Emmaus later in life. For every walk, I had to get ready and stay ready for what lay one step ahead, or sometimes miles in the distance.

One thing I knew then, and see more clearly now, is that walking through life is full of peaks and valleys. Some walks begin easily, descending a gentle slope. Others feel like a vertical climb from the very first step.

If we are of the world, we live under the illusion that we can see the road ahead. We convince ourselves we can read the terrain—spot the rolling hills, anticipate the mountains, and know when to relax or when to exert ourselves.

But that’s the illusion.

For those of us who are of the Word, we know a different truth—the truth that tells us to be ready in season and out of season. The truth that the Son of Man will come when we least expect Him. So…be ready.

I lived much of my life immersed in the walk of the world—the wide superhighway that whispers, “If it feels good, do it.” What a lie that turned out to be.

By the grace of God, I eventually saw a different path—one marked by a one-way arrow pointing to Jesus. It didn’t promise that the walk would always feel good. It didn’t guarantee gentle downhill slopes, a tailwind, and sunshine at every turn.

If anything, it feels as though the Holy Spirit says, “I’m going to blindfold you so you can’t see the terrain ahead. Be ready. Stay ready. Have faith in Me. Trust My narrow path.”

Once I began simply walking with Jesus, I discovered something new: peaks and valleys are, in many ways, an illusion. When I walk blindfolded in faith, trusting Jesus, I no longer know whether each step is up or down.

It’s simply a step—with Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

And if I awaken one day to find myself standing on a narrow mountain shelf, with no obvious handholds or footholds, God reminds me that with faith the size of a mustard seed I can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move.

Nothing will be impossible.

I believe Him.

So as I finish this journal note—tying the laces of my Asics—I once again place my trust in Jesus Christ for the walk ahead.

I pray you’re doing the same.

Get ready.
Stay ready.

_______

“Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.”
Matthew 24:42 (NKJV)

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Romans 10:17 (NKJV)

“For assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:20 (NKJV)