Grace for the Things We Thought We Knew
Well, pluck my ol’ fiddle strings a lil’ bit longer, friend, an’ you go right ahead an’ pull up a cozy chair on this breezy front porch to git yourself settled in for a lil’ ol’ spell ‘cause Psalm 119:105 is glowin’ brighter than a lightning bug convention on a July night as it’s tellin’ us, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Now that there’s a promise steadier than that old granddaddy oak sittin’ in the lil’ deep holler out there behind the back pasture; you know, it’s the one tree that has survived every storm, drought, and confused woodpecker since before anybody remembers.
Sakes alive, friend, the good Lord’s Word is not some blinding spotlight that shows you the whole highway from here to eternity. It’s more like one of those tiny clay lamps the psalmist talked about, the kind that flickers just enough to show the next two steps. Kind of like tryin’ to walk across the barnyard at night with only a glowworm for company. But that’s really all we need ‘cause God knows if He showed us the whole road ahead, half of us would faint like a lil’ ol’ faintin’ goat at a fancy fireworks show.
Proverbs 6:20-23 reminds us to keep God’s commands tied to our hearts like a faithful hound dog that never leaves your side. When you roam, those commands will lead you. When you sleep, they keep you. When you wake up, they speak to you. That’s a mite better than any GPS, especially the kind that sends you down a dirt road where all the raccoons look at you like you interrupted their busy board meetin’.
The truth is, friend, we don’t need to be seein’ the whole future. We just need to trust the One who already stands in it. The Bible may not tell us everything about tomorrow, but it sure tells us how to walk today. And the more we read it, the brighter our path gits, like someone keeps addin’ fresh oil to our little lamp.
V. Raymond Edman once gave us a piece of wisdom we’d do well to tuck deep into our hearts when he wrote, “Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.” Warren Wiersbe echoed that same truth in almost the very same words, reminding believers that darkness doesn’t rewrite God’s promises. And long before either of them, Charles Spurgeon said that he’d rather walk in the dark holding onto a promise of God than trust the brightest daylight without Him. Even Isaiah declared it generations earlier when he wrote, “Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord” (Isaiah 50:10). It seems the saints across the ages all learned the same lesson: God’s Word doesn’t dim just because our circumstances do. What He spoke in the light still stands when life feels shadowed. That, friend, will preach even to a stubborn mule.
Father, thank You for Your Word that lights our steps, steadies our hearts, and guides our days. Help us hold it close, trust it deeply, and follow it faithfully. Keep our feet on the path You choose and our eyes on the light You provide. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Now, by cracky, as you go to wanderin’ back into your day, picture yourself like a lil’ ol’ cottontail rabbit makin’ its way through the forest. You may not see far ahead, but that small glow from God’s Word is enough to keep you from trippin’ over roots, fallin’ into holes, or bumpin’ into a grumpy possum. Let that lamp guide you, step by step, moment by moment. The path may twist, the shadows may shift, but the light just never goes out. And that there, friend, is a real good truth worth puttin’ deep down in your heart an’ carryin’ all the way down the deep lil’ valley way out in the corner of back pasture and all the way back home again.
With joy,
Gwen
