Passage to Ponder: Proverbs 4:20-27
“May your eyes look forward and your gaze be straight before you. May the path of your foot be balanced, and all your ways be sure.” --Proverbs 4:25-26 (The Lexham English Bible)
Are you starting to feel like a castaway marooned on a remote island? Are you making marks or cutting notches onto something to keep count of the passing days? Off my schedule, I am finding it hard to keep track of what day of the week it is. I remember when my parents retired from their jobs, my father commented that if it is wasn’t for Wednesday night and Sunday church activities, he wouldn’t know the difference from one day to the next on the calendar. I am starting to understand.
My weekly calendar revolves around a regular schedule of activities. I am sure you relate to what I am saying. It seems that the world has been tilted like one of those odd perspective carnival rooms with the slanted floor. It throws off your perspective. Your eyes are tricked into believing that a ball will roll uphill all by itself. It is an optical illusion of forced perspective.
Solomon gave you advice on keeping your perspective. “May your eyes look forward and your gaze be straight before you.” Some people lose sight of what is in front of them and suffer motion sickness in boats, airplanes, and automobiles. One of the ways to prevent motion sickness is keep your eyes focused on the horizon instead of your immediate surroundings. The same is true in this quarantine. You can spend your days focused on the challenges and lose sight that an end is coming. Heed the words of Solomon’s father, David, in Psalm 62:1 (NLT), “I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him.” Don’t lose sight of the horizon: the victory has already been won by God, wait peacefully before the Lord for it to come into your life.
Wait? What do you mean “wait quietly”? I can’t sit around doing nothing! That is not what it means to “wait quietly.” Solomon goes on to explain in Proverbs 4:26 how to do this: “May the path of your foot be balanced, and all your ways be sure.” Keep your foot on a balanced path. Don’t get off the trail! When you wander off the trail God has set before you, you find yourself trekking over bad terrain, tougher climbs, and expose yourself to trouble. Be obedient to God.
Walking in the wilderness at night makes it hard to see where the path meets the horizon. This is where faith comes in! You can’t see where the path goes. You can only see a few feet in front of you. But the path is here because someone has traveled this way before. You think, “I hope he knew where he was going because I’m going to follow his tracks!” The One who made the path is God Himself. Follow His footprints. He knows the end of the trail. Keep your feet on the balanced path…one step of obedience at a time. Do this and you will reach the point where the path meets the horizon.
Love,
Pastor Larry
Pastor Larry
(This is from a series of devotionals written during our time of restricted meetings and activities due to
the coronavirus.)
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