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For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. - Micah 4:5 

 

 

Sometimes it all feels kind of daunting. It’s too big, too hard, too far, too much, too high, too many steps.   

 

Sometimes it feels like a slog. You step but don’t seem to get any farther down the road or any further up the stairs.  

 

Sometimes it feels like the world is going backwards, and you’re trying to move forward, like walking on a moving sidewalk at the airport but going the wrong way, against the flow, fighting to maintain, much less move forward.  

 

Sometimes it feels kind of pointless and meaningless and you feel like giving up.  

 

Sometimes it feels like … _______ … well, you fill in the blank.  

 

That’s why we live by faith and not by feelings. Feelings come and go. Feelings can go hot and cold. Feelings can be fickle.  

 

Faith keeps us moving when we feel like not moving.  

 

Faith keeps our eyes on Jesus when we feel like quitting.  

 

Faith is the conviction that God has a plan, and His plan is right and good, and His plan cannot be stopped because God is good and God is right and God cannot be stopped.  

 

76,532 steps. That’s how many steps Luke, Micah and I took as we walked and prayed around the city of Winston last Saturday as we circled the city. 76,532 steps – one step at a time. There was no way to skip a step. You had to take each one to get to the end. Step by step, 35.5 miles, just keep going, just keep putting one foot in front of the other.  

 

No skipping steps. No giving up. No turning back. Step forward, one step at a time. Relying on each other. Relying on God. Step by step.  

 

All the while God was speaking into our lives as we went step by step with Him… 

 

Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for I, the Lord your God am with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9 

 

Do you not know that in a race all the walkers walk but only one gets the prize? Walk, step by step, in such a way as to get the prize. - 1 Corinthians 9:24 

 

Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up. - Galatians 6:9 

 

You can do all things through Me who gives you strength. - Philippians 4:13 

 

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. - Isaiah 41:10 

 

Being confident of this, that I who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. - Philippians 1:6 


Finally, be strong in Me, for I am the Lord, and in My mighty power. - Ephesians 6:10 

 

Walking with Jesus. That’s what it’s all about.  

 

I imagine He got tired of walking. He took some long hikes during His lifetime, walking hundreds of miles. I wonder if His feet got tired, wore a blister, got a pebble in His sandal. I wonder if He ever felt like stopping. Looking in Scripture you realize He took a lot of long walks.  

 

None longer than the trip to Jerusalem from Galilee for the last time. And then in Jerusalem, He walked, step by step to the cross where He finally was able to stop walking.  

 

There He accomplished everything He came to do. There He died so we could live and… 

 

…so we could walk with Him, day by day, step by step, through life.  

 

Walk in good times and bad. Walk through the noise in life without wavering. Walk around obstacles, step over things in the way, find the strength in Him to keep going.  

 

Climb the stairs in front of you. Stair by stair, step by step. 

 

So, keep walking. Keep walking forward and listen to His voice, by faith, and not by feelings and you will get there. Just keep walking and climbing, step by step.