The steps of a man are ordered by the lord

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in His way; though he should fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hands.”

Psalm 37:23-24 (ESV)

How many times have you been looking at your walk with Christ and think that you are a failure? Many times we look at the things we do and we are left dumbfounded. We think that we aren’t good enough or that we need to do more. We don’t read our Bible as much as someone else or we don’t pray enough. We are unfaithful to God. The reality is that we are right. We do fall short. We don’t do enough. We don’t do everything that we could be doing. I know that in my own life, I have seen sin after sin plague my life and, when that sin is gloriously defeated by God, another seems to take its place. I am constantly and daily failing. But we need to realize something: we are not alone. Yes, we fail. Yes, we are not good enough. Yes, we are unfaithful to God. But God is faithful to us. Let me say that again: God is FAITHFUL to us. We don’t even need to include the last to words. It would be enough to simply say, “God is faithful.” That, my friends, is the point of grace. God saves us while we were yet sinners. He is constantly making us better. Making us more like Christ. This is not to say that we don’t have to try but, as this passage tells us, when our steps are established by the Lord, He will catch us. He will not allow us to fall away from Him. He upholds us with his mighty hand. We do not hold Him up. Here is the best thing of all: it doesn’t matter how much we mess up. Because God is faithful and because He holds us up, we are forgiven. Let that sink in. We are forgiven. Not only are we forgiven, but God is active through the Holy Spirit to grow us towards him and away from the sin that bound us. He gives us the power to resist sin and gives us the freedom to live for him. This week, look at your life. Look at the times that you have fallen and let the reality of God’s hand pulling you back into his arms sink into your heart and give you hope and joy.