Sure-footedness is required here! Keeping our spiritual balance is vital.

“Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble.”

Psalm 119:165 New Living Translation

With chaos, noise and agitation frequent companions as we journey through life, any verse that offers peace has my attention immediately. Elvis Presley may have made a lot of money off of “All Shook Up” but as a life style it leaves me panting for tranquility.

But this week the ‘do not stumble’ part of the above verse piqued my attention. Since 1987 and a trip to Central America, ‘stumbling’ has been an occasional possibility for me. Strong medicine to clear up a parasite that came home with me, left me with destroyed balance mechanism in my ears. So I stay upright through the use of the muscles in my legs, what me eyes process as I move along and copious amounts of divine assistance.

(So don’t send me into the woods on an uneven path in the dark … just sayin’!)

Since this isn’t a medical update on me, let me turn our attention to a spiritual application.

Tripping up spiritually is always a possibility. It can happen to anyone. However, tripping and falling aren’t the end of the journey unless we stay down where we’ve fallen. We’re in agreement though that staying upright is the preferable way to get where we’re going. So how do we develop sure footing?

Matthew Henry’s commentary on this verse can help us here: “Those that love the world have great vexation, for it does not answer their expectation; those that love God’s word have great peace, for it outdoes their expectation, and in it they have sure footing.”

It seems to boil down to the absence or the presence of God’s Word in our lives. Spiritual balance is derived from following God’s wisdom and that is found in his Word. He alone knows where the uneven parts of the trail are and not only does He know, but guides us through them with thoughtfulness, patience and marvelous grace.

We don’t need to stumble when we walk with God!

Psalm 29:10 “At the Flood the Lord showed his control of all creation.

Now he continues to unveil his power. 11 He will give his people strength.

He will bless them with peace.” New Living Translation 

Just as God demonstrated his power at the flood, He keeps revealing that power through the way He interacts with his children. He offers us ‘stumble-proof’ strength and then adds his amazing peace to sweeten the process.

Is it any wonder we call him “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!” Isaiah 9:6 New Living Translation