I remember the last time I tripped and fell. It left me bruised and scraped. A good conversation distracted me on a rocky desert trail; I wasn’t looking straight ahead. I should have been more attentive to the path and to my feet. Can you remember your last stumble? What got in your way? How did you get back up on your feet?

Some wrong moves can have big spiritual consequences. The one time Adam and Eve turned away from God left a fallen legacy for all generations to come. Their weakness is mine and yours as well. The “Fall” is a baseline metaphor for sin. You can trace all faulty footwork to that first wrong move.

Look up “fall” in the dictionary and see how much vocabulary resounds with the fallout from that original sin. Samples from the Oxford Reference Dictionary:

• “Fall away” means to desert or vanish.
• “Fall back” means to retreat.
• “Fall flat” means to fail.
•  A “fall guy” is an easy victim or scapegoat.

The unplanned physical moves of stumbling, tripping, and falling are a picture of the human spiritual condition after that first momentous “fall.” Thankfully, God doesn’t leave you in this predicament. He reverses the effects of the “fall” with His own resurrection. He gives you His Spirit so you can walk with your eyes on Him.

Quiet your inner spirit as you contemplate the following two Bible verses. Ask God for a revelation of His goodness, mercy, and sovereignty over your footwork. He is in control; His plan is a path forward and He is on it with you.

“The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand”.  Psalm 37:23, 24 (NLT)

“I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, and when you run you will not stumble”.  Proverbs 4:11, 12 (NKJV)

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Excerpt from:

Sandhu, Teresa (2013). Walking with God: Praying through footwork metaphors in scripture. Unpublished manuscript.