Baby Steps

this morning, Pastor Paul talked about the steps leading to the temple, and how they were so uneven. some were long, others narrow, some tall, others shallow. no two steps were the same. when he showed a picture of the stairs, I turned to Kelsey and said "i would definitely trip on those." she told me when steps are off even a millimeter, they'll cause people to trip. Pastor Paul went on to talk about how the Jewish leaders saw these steps as a metaphor for the faith journey: you had to be very intentional with each step, or you could get pretty bumped and bruised on the way to your destination. you had to be aware of which steps took more effort, which steps were longer. each step required thought.

i got to thinking about what Pastor Paul said along with what Kelsey told me. People trip when the steps are a millimeter off, because they aren't used to the small changes. They're expecting something they've already encountered; they're planning on each step being the same as the others. When the steps aren't what we expect, we struggle for our footing. This happens with life too- we plan on one thing, and when God throws us for a loop, when we get a tall step or a long step, we say, "BUT GOD, THATS NOT HOW THE OTHERS WERE!" After awhile, after walking on several uneven steps, we get used to it, we're prepared for whats to come, and we can say "Thank you God, for helping me to be aware and get through whatever I come up against."

I was really struck by today's sermon, so I thought I'd put this out there for anyone else who was interested. Finding God in the little things like a set of stairs= one of the best parts of being alive.