Slow but Steady

Psalm 40:1-3

New Century Version (NCV)

Praise and Prayer for Help

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

40 I waited patiently for the Lord.

    He turned to me and heard my cry.

2 He lifted me out of the pit of destruction,

    out of the sticky mud.

He stood me on a rock

    and made my feet steady.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,

    a song of praise to our God.

Many people will see this and worship him.

    Then they will trust the Lord.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

English Standard Version (ESV)

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self[a] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

1 Peter 2:21

English Standard Version (ESV)

21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

Yes, this is another church lady story, and I still thank God for church ladies.  When I was a teenager, a woman in our church, an experienced hiker, took the youth group girls up into the mountains  on an overnight hike.  We had to pack everything in, a first for me, though I'm sure she carried the heaviest load.  As I struggled up the hill, she came along side me and said, "Just take slow steps, one step at a time."  I did find that, by slowing myself down and measuring my steps, I was able to conquer that climb.  I kept hiking too, into my young adulthood, while I still lived at the front door of a national park.  My legs did get stronger.  Now I am no longer young and my legs are no longer strong.  Age and rheumatoid arthritis have mucked up my walk.  Still the same thing applies, taking slow steps one step at a time, for it's just a different sort of mountain I'm climbing, just a different walk of faith; and it's my Lord who steadies my steps.  

Carry Me Through - Dave Barnes