One Foot in Front of the Other

We all learn to walk in the same way, putting one foot in front of the other, but learning to walk doesn’t begin with walking. 

I have a 9^th month old granddaughter who is in the stages of learning to walk.  It started with her innocently lying on her back, kicking her legs in the air.  Moving to her stomach she did what is commonly called the “airplane”.  She didn’t know it, but she was strengthening her back and abs for what was next.  We could still leave the room and when we returned, know she would be in the same spot, same position. 

But as her strength increased, that changed.  She started rolling over, moving from stomach to back, eventually learning that if she rolled from her back to stomach she could roll all over the house.  Not only was this a new skill, but she had been developing new muscles making the next step to walking possible.  We watched as she progressed – scooting, sitting up on her hands and knees, crawling, pulling herself up on the couch, walking around the couch, and soon she will be flying solo no longer dependent on an object to help her maintain balance.  As brilliant as all my grandkids are, I’ve yet to have one of them go from birth to walking, they’ve all learned to walk in similar ways, developing ability, muscles, and balance, eventually putting one foot in front of the other.

I think our faith life is similar.  In our learning to walk spiritually we are developing and using muscles, spiritual ones, we may never have used before.  As we develop these “muscles”, the habits and practices we take on enable us to deepen our faith and relationship with God.  We move from scooting to crawling to eventually walking.  For those of us seeking to live in the way of Jesus, we are all at different stages in our spiritual journey, but we are all on one.  Some are in the “airplane” stage of spiritual formation while others are walking.  God’s desire for us is that we all learn to walk. 

Some have grown up in the church and have the benefit of hearing a very clear message. For others the message at times sounds like the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon.  Knowing that means we extend grace to each other in the same way it has been extended to us.  No one learns to walk all at once, it takes time.

So whether we’re in airplane, rolling around, or crawling stage, God doesn’t want us to stay where we are, but desires for to “grow up in the faith”.  And there’s always something more for us to move on to.  We recognize there is something wrong when a 7-year-old chooses to lie on their back kicking their legs in the air.  Too often we choose crawling when we should be walking.  This bears repeating:  God doesn’t want any of us to stay where we are. 

How do we learn to walk?  We do it by responding to what’s right in front of us.  We don’t look at what someone else might be doing or how they may or may not be responding, but by listening to the ways God is speaking to us.  By seeking counsel and wisdom from others who are further in their journey than we are.  By being obedient to what we feel God is saying to us right now.  That’s what it means to learn how to walk, by putting one foot in front of the other.