Lamp to My Feet
“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105 NLT
August 2023,
I went out to the backfield with my dog at about 10:00 at night. It was a lovely, warm summer night. While in the field, I felt prompted to walk the dog on the pipeline trail. This is a trail behind my house. It's where a water pipeline is buried under a long, flat trail that also connects to a trail to the river. I live in the middle of nowhere in the country, and behind the trail from my house is a forest that goes quite a distance to the next town. The river runs through it. My home is relatively high above the river, but you can hear it roaring from my house when the water is high.
I only had my cell phone and a flashlight in my pocket, and there was enough light from the moon that I didn't need the flashlight. So, I decided to follow the leading and walk my dog on this trail, trusting the Lord that nothing would eat me because he invited me to go. As I walked on this path for about 15 minutes, I got to the path that branches off and goes to the river. I felt in my spirit that I was supposed to go to the river. No one knows where I am, but I trusted the Lord and continued. This path is much darker because the trees cover it, and it's narrower. My dog is off-leash, running back and forth, enjoying herself. I would get scared at times because I was worried that something would eat me, like a cougar or a bear. I'm alone in the forest in the middle of the night with nothing. But I believe the Lord invited me out. I had to remind myself that he invited me out and would keep me safe. He's more than capable. Animals would be easier than humans to redirect. Nothing is too complicated for God. I had to remind myself I was not testing the Lord; I was only here by invitation many times. At my lowest point on the walk, to encouraged myself. I would sing the little song Jesus Loves Me This I know because the Bible tells me so.
“ At my lowest point on the walk, to encourage myself. I would sing the little song Jesus Loves Me This I know because the Bible tells me so. ”
Walking this path at night was very different from walking during the day. I am very familiar with this path, but at night, it was different. The trees looked different and had an ominous feeling. The dark trees reminded me of people whispering to each other while gossiping. The flashlight I had with me was almost dead, so its light was very dim. I only had a small circle of light to light the path around my feet. I couldn't see very far ahead with it. It could only shine a small circle of light on my feet. With only that little bit of light, I had to focus more on how I was walking. Even though I knew the path well, you must still be careful of the rocks and the roots that could trip you. Like how we must be careful of the thoughts we keep in our minds.
It was beautiful when I got to the river; the stars were out, and the moon was big. The roaring of the river was soothing. I needed to go to this special spot at the river where this big Eddy has created a nice little pool. I felt like the Lord wanted me to go swimming. When I looked at this pool of water, it looked dirty. It looked like something was floating on top of it. I wondered if leaves from the trees beside the pool had fallen into it, making it dirty. I asked the Lord, and he said the water was fine. I didn't really believe him, but I went closer to the water and stuck my hand in it to realize there were bubbles. Because it was so dark, it just looked different from a distance. It looked dirty. On a closer inspection, it was fine. How often do we question and doubt the Lord because of our limited understanding of what we see?
“How often do we question and doubt the Lord because of our limited understanding of what we see?”
I didn't jump right into the water. I had the memory of my bold friend lunging into the water recently. No hesitation, and she goes. She is like that with her faith, too. While I admired her boldness, I felt it could be detrimental and dangerous, causing unintended damage. However, I'm not like that. I worked my way into the water and slowly got deeper until I finally went under the water. I went in with care, grace and caution. I thought about how people approach stepping out in faith during this time and how people approach full surrender. There was wisdom in how I moved, but it was not always what was needed. Sometimes, you can be overly cautious and miss out completely. I slowly got to the point of full submersion in my own time, but I still got there. The LORD is more than able to work with both personality types to fulfil his purposes. This means we would be given different kinds of assignments based on need.
It was a beautiful evening with the Lord. My dog enjoyed the water, too. Once I was at the destination, the fear I had while walking just melted away. Even though I was afraid, I still did it anyway, and I still did it in faith and belief in the Lord, and he got me there safely. Walking home on that path was much easier when it came time to go home. I felt bolder, and I felt more confident. I felt a little disappointed with how much fear I had. And I thought, if the Lord let me do this again, I wouldn't be as afraid as I was the first time. I wanted to be bolder like my friend.
Either a few days later or a week later—I can't quite remember exactly—the Lord called me out to walk again to the river. This time, I brought a better flashlight with good batteries. I was excited to go. I was determined not to be afraid because I recognized that the same feeling matched the first invitation. I knew I'd be safe with him.
This time, while walking on the path, I was bold. The boldness and confidence from walking home last time were still inside me. I could see a bit further ahead because my flashlight was stronger. It made me think of the gift of prophecy and how you can see a little further ahead with it. However, like with my flashlight, I could only see a little bit of the part in front of me.
Another point emphasized on the walk was that while I could see further ahead, I still had to shine the light on my feet so I wouldn't trip on the roots or rocks. This made me think about how we must focus more on the present situation with Jesus than on the future. There is enough to worry about today that I don't need to add tomorrow's worries. Being mindful of what is ahead is essential but must be appropriately balanced.
“ There is enough to worry about today that I don’t need to add tomorrow’s worries. Being mindful of what is ahead is essential but must be appropriately balanced.”
This flashlight created a bigger circle around my feet. This was equivalent to growing in the Lord, allowing more of him to shine through us, allowing us to see more. It was encouraging, and I felt bold. But with that being said, it was different on this walk, not just because of the flashlight. Now I had the wind in the trees blowing. And the wind would sound like animals in my mind because I was afraid. So, I still had to sing Jesus loves me this I know because the Bible tells me so when I would become frightened. I kept pressing on trusting the Lord and believing him. I felt like I was doing this faith walk on a new level of difficulty. I passed the first time. Can I pass the second time with it a little harder? There was no wind the first time. It is just like the LORD to make it harder to make you stronger.
“It is just like the LORD to make it harder to make you stronger.”
When I got to the river, I was determined to jump into it and be bolder in my faith, like my friend. I wanted to demonstrate my surrender with no hesitation and be stronger. I got into the water a little quicker, but the rocks shifted slightly this time. So, I still entered slowly because I didn't want to hurt my foot on the rock and get trapped or injured. Also, I was praying against the animals coming to see me on the walk. One of my favourite moments was when I got to the water, thinking of crayfish in the water, and I told the Lord, "And I declare no nibblies." I feel like we're both still chuckling at that moment. No crayfish nibbled on me, but if I stayed still in the pool of water, they would skirt by. There were no crayfish the first time, but there was a big crayfish this time. As long as I kept moving, it stayed away. I felt like the LORD used this to demonstrate how he uses things to keep us moving so we won't settle in on the spot for too long and that we need to keep moving forward. I stayed longer in the water and had a fantastic night again. Also, no one knew I was there. It was well after midnight again.
“I felt like the LORD used this to demonstrate how he uses things to keep us moving so we won’t settle in on the spot for too long and that we need to keep moving forward. ”
Like last time, while walking back, I was bolder than before. It was easier, and I felt strengthened deep inside. I felt this was a physical demonstration of what it means to walk by faith with the Lord. This was a valuable lesson he taught me. I also felt I wouldn't get another invite to the river like that for a while. And so far, it hasn't happened a year later. This lesson will stick with me for the rest of my life. I hope it will help strengthen others who read it and encourage them in their walk of faith by allowing Jesus to be the lamp to their feet, amen.