A Closer Walk
"Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who made us, and not we ourselves; We are his people and the sheep of His pasture," Psalm 100:3 NASB. Each of us was born, and grew, and grew up. During our lives we have all had different parents and families, different surroundings, and different experiences, even within the same immediate family. At some point in our lives we arrive at the realization that all of that worked together to make us into who we are. Our God has been leading us all throughout our lives. As hindsight always is, we sometimes only recognize that fact by looking back and remembering how our Lord worked things out. How He helped in time of need. How He comforted, loved, and was present with us during tough times as well as the good times. And even on occasion how He rescued us. Or as the Psalmist says, “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God,” Psalm 40:2-3a NASB.
Our family upbringing helped prepare us to be able to make our way in the world. Our surroundings helped with that process; perhaps even enabled it. Our families had a huge impact on our growing up, our education, and our values. The location and time period we were born in determined our surroundings and our experiences. But ultimately our God was directing our steps. “A man’s mind plans his way [as he journeys through life], But the LORD directs his steps and establishes them,” Proverbs 16:9 Amplified Bible. Sometimes God gives us specific direction or instruction. Other times it seems He will lay out options and say, “You pick.” In other words, “Do you want what's behind door number one, or door number two, or would you rather have what's behind the curtain?” like the host says on the game show “Let's Make a Deal.”
The Psalmist says that it is the Lord God who chose those things. "It is He who made us, and not we ourselves," tells us that our God has worked in each of our lives to bring us to where we are now. Our childhood helped shape us into the adults we became. All of our experiences whether good, bad, or indifferent have worked to mold us into the person we have become. Each and every experience has helped bring us to the point in our lives where we can see that we are more like Christ today than we were months and years ago. And that is always God's priority; to make us more like Jesus. “I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return],” Philippians 1:6 Amplified Bible.
But even if we are grandparents, we are not a finished product. For as long as we are here in this life, our God is not done with us yet. How do we know? Because we ARE still here. It is only when our Lord calls us home that we are a finished product. On the cross before He gave up His spirit, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, 'I am thirsty.' A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop, and brought it up to His mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, 'It is finished!' And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit,” Pastors tell us that when Jesus stated, “It is finished,” He was not referring to His life but rather informing us that He had completed the ministry He had been assigned by His, and our, Heavenly Father.
We can rest assured that God never gives up on us. “...He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return],” Philippians 1:6 Amplified Bible. Regardless of how many experiences we have had, our Lord has more experiences to offer us.
No matter how many steps we have taken in our walk with God, He has places He still wants to take us. To God be the Glory!
“To God be the glory, great things he has done! So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,
who yielded his life an atonement for sin, and opened the life-gate that all may go in. Great things he has taught us, great things he has done, and great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son,
but purer and higher and greater will be our joy and our wonder, when Jesus we see. [Refrain] Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, Let the earth hear his voice! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father through Jesus the Son and give him the glory, great things he has done!” Words by Fanny J. Crosby, 1820-1815. Music by William H. Doane, 1832-1915.