"The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;
though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand."
Psalm 37: 23-24

If I've learned anything in life, I've learned that life is a process ... a journey.  A journey that must be taken one step at a time.  That's where it gets difficult for me.  By education, profession, and by nature, I am a planner.  I plan 'things'.  If I'm created in God's image, in His likeness, I would assume He's a planner too.  Therefore, He should know that I like to see the big picture.  He should know that I want to plan my life's itinerary with Him.  He does know that ... He's omniscient.  He also knows I'd depend less on Him if I knew more. 

One of my area's of expertise in my occupation is non-motorized trail design.  In layman's terms, I design walking and biking paths.  I'm pretty good at it too.  One of the things I have to take into account during the planning process is who the end user will be.  The trail user demographic if you will.  I can't assume that all of the users will be physically fit or able ... or observant ... or coordinated ... or just good trail users.  Therefore I need to design the trail in a way that it's stable to walk or ride on.  In many cases I need to provide hand rails so that if someone were to stumble, they can catch themselves.

When I read this passage this morning, I knew right away it would be the subject of today's blog.  I didn't want to quote both verses, but felt for contextual reasons I had too.  You see, I like verse 24 more than 23, because I tend to stumble a lot.  Probably because I stray off the stable path from time to time.  And I like to walk paths without handrails.  Handrails are for sissies, or old people.  I'm young ... er, younger ... and healthy ... and ... and ... sometimes I forget to delight myself in the Lord.  Sometimes I forget to give Him credit, even in big things.  That's why I like verse 24 ... standing alone.  Without verse 23, it's a warm and fuzzy verse that talks about the great things God will do for me when I screw up.  There's nothing for me to do but detour off the stable path.  He'll be there to hold me up right?

The truth is, He will.  He won't disown us.  We can screw up, and stumble, and jump the handrails of life over and over and over, and He'll be there every time to hold us up.  Is that a license to sin?  To live a reckless life?  The apostle Paul says no.  I believe him.  Do I still sin?  Yes ... unfortunately I do.  And stumble?  Oh yes ... probably daily.  Have I ever jumped over the handrail?  More times than I can count.  When I do that, guess who else is there willing to help me?  The Bible has many names for him ... the evil one seems to stand out to me right now.  Oh, he'd love nothing more than to help me continue sinning.  He's quick to tell me that one more time won't hurt.  Thankfully God is there, reaching out His hand toward me ... my spiritual hand rail. 

Is He reaching out to you?  If He is, grab His hand.

"I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some."

1 Corinthians 9:22b

This was one of the verses referenced yesterday in church.  The theme of the two week series was being ready to tell your testimony.  The title of the series was "Ask Me".  Our pastor had images of t-shirts with the words "Ask Me" printed on the front on the big screens above the pulpit.  He challenged us to think about what type of response we'd get if we wore those shirts around.  Most people would probably reply 'ask you what?'.  It made me think ...

I'm in a country music band.  I'm the lead singer.  Because of that people automatically think I'm outgoing.  I'm not.  I'd much rather share my thoughts through a keyboard than a microphone.  I do love music however, and enjoy performing.  For me it's a form of make believe.  You see, that is me up there, but it's not really me. 

Anyway, doing that as a Christian has offended some people in my life.  They're no longer in my life ... if they're going to act that way, they can move on.  To quote the last line in the chorus of a song I just wrote, 'you don't have to like me'.  More on that at another time.  Back to the band, and being all things.  Being the front man in a band gives me many opportunities to interact with people I normally wouldn't see or meet.  I've had some pretty wonderful, and sometimes colorful conversations with people over the years.  I've wondered several times why I do it.  Is it something I'm supposed to be doing?  Is it worth the time and effort I put into it?  More than likely I'll still wonder tomorrow as well, but for now ... for a short 24 hour period of time ... I wonder if that's my way to be all things to all people so that some might be saved?

Think about it ... when was the last time you invited your bar visiting, beer drinking, line dancing friend to church?  Did they accept the invite?  I'll admit I've never extended that invite.  I guess it's due to a fear of rejection, figuring they'd say no.  However, it's easy, and less fearful, for me to take the 'church' to a bar, or restaurant, or pub, or anywhere else I play music.  That I can do.  Does that mean I stand up at my microphone and preach, or sneak sermons into songs?  No, but have I become more relatable?  Have I met someone on their level?  Have I taken the church building out of the picture, creating a more comfortable atmosphere to do the work of the church?  I don't know ... time will tell.