Sep
12
2018
A Little Stumble
Posted in Salvation 2 Comments
I saw her little sneakers light up as she walked.
She was trying to follow her mommy.
It is hard to have little legs.
Little legs just do not seem to walk as fast as grownup legs.
I noticed her cute denim skirt.
It was hard not to notice since it was a twirly skirt.
She was making sure that her movements made her skirt twirl.
She was quite successful and it made her giggle.
She was trying to twirl her skirt when she tripped.
She was holding a bag of candy in her hand.
Her mother was not using a shopping cart.
She was helping with the one item that was most important.
I heard the candy make a loud plop on the floor.
She caught herself with her little hands.
The sneakers kept flashing with every step.
I’m OK, Mommy, she said quite loudly.
Hurry up! Hurry up! Her mother said to her.
She was trying.
That was part of the problem.
Her little legs just could not keep up.
She went a little further.
She twirled her skirt some more.
She danced down the aisle.
A light show was coming from her sneakers.
The little girl tripped again.
The bag of candy went plop on the floor.
She caught herself with her hands.
I’m OK, Mommy! I’m OK! She said even louder as if to convince herself.
Her mother could not help but giggle a bit.
I know that I was smiling as I watched this precious little girl.
She wanted her mommy to know that she was OK.
She wanted to convince herself that she was OK.
I had a list of things I needed and was pushing my shopping cart down the main aisle.
I was wearing sandals with a rubber sole.
I was walking along and I tripped.
My rubber soled sandal just seemed to stick on the floor.
Perhaps it was the humidity.
You could actually feel it in the air.
Why do we adults try to cover ourselves when we trip?
We trip but we pretend to do it gracefully, as if we intended that misstep.
I walked a bit further and just like the little girl, I tripped again.
My rubber soled sandal just seemed to stick to the floor.
Now I understood what happened to the little girl.
I was not twirling my skirt; I was not leaving a light show with my shoes.
Again, I tried to cover my obvious trip.
For whom?
Why did it matter?
For an instant, I wanted to be just like that little girl.
I wanted to say quite loudly, I’m OK.
I wanted to assure the people nearby that I was fine.
I wanted to save face a bit and assure myself.
It did not matter; we sometimes lose our footing.
When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. (Psalm 37:24)
The little girl showed no sign of embarrassment.
She was going along.
She was twirling her little skirt.
She tripped.
She wanted to make sure her mommy knew she was OK.
She wanted to verbalize it because she needed to hear it herself.
The candy bag plopped on the floor.
She held on to it for dear life.
I, on the other hand, felt embarrassed.
Pride set in.
Grownups are not supposed to trip in rubber soled sandals in a store.
We know better than that; we have been walking much longer than a little child.
In this fallen world, we are all children.
In this fallen world, we all stumble from time to time.
We can hold our head up.
We have no reason to feel embarrassed.
We must be honest before God.
When we stumble, we must call out to Him.
Instead of saying, I’m Ok, God, we should call to Him for help.
God hears us.
Save me!
Lift me up!
Help me stand!
Put my feet on solid ground!
God knows we are not OK in those moments of stumbling.
Who are we trying to convince with our false bravado?
Tripping in rubber soled sandals is one thing.
Falling into sin is another.
When we stumble and fall, and we will, we need to call out to Him.
We can try to catch ourselves.
Inevitably, we will stumble again.
God sees. God knows. God cares.
I am not OK, Lord Jesus.
It is hard to walk sometimes.
So many things can trip me up along the way.
Only You can make my path clear.
And He hears.
And He sees.
And His Hand is held out to us.
All we need to do is take hold.
I love the way you see a spiritual lesson in so many everyday circumstances. Can one train oneself to be that way? BTW I have my first granddaughter born in April and so identify with your joy in that!
Paula,
Thank you for your kind words, which I am just reading now. By God’s grace, His Whispers can be heard each day. I do think we can train ourselves to listen a bit better by being in God’s Word each day. By listening to God speak to us through His Word, we are better able to hear Him speak to us in our daily lives. It is not an audible voice, but rather, God speaks to our hearts. Congratulations on the birth of your first granddaughter in April. I am sure you are enjoying every minute with her. Blessings and JOY.
Gina