THE LAST FEW STEPS

It has been said that the longest journey begins with a single step. Suggesting that you can not go on any journey till you take your first step. It might be an obvious comment, but it is still very true.

And as important as that first step happens to be, the last few steps are also very important. Especially, when speaking of steps of faith.

So often trusting the Lord includes trusting him for a promise that has yet to be fulfilled. And if one faints in terms of giving up before finishing that journey of faith whatever was meant to be reaped never happens. Quitting almost always ends in such situations without experience any kind of victory.

Still, God in his grace will sometimes be longsuffering and if we failed or quit in a given situation he will grant us another. Or if it involves being called in some way he will provide a different avenue for the completion of his will.

However the first occasion is gone and never gets a chance to be repeated. That is the reality.

I have no doubts most people have a few of those moments in their lives. And when standing before the Lord I'm also aware he will show us those moments and also what might have been if we have summoned the courage to have been obedient.

There is too the reality that Satan also knows when God calls us to a given path of obedience. He will put as many obstacles as possible to keep us from finish a given path. That becomes even more oppressive at times during those last few steps.

What isn't always appreciated is even when one has reached the end of a given valley the last few steps last beyond that point. And the devil is aware of it too.

Which is why it is so essential to keep walking with the same spirit of trust once that valley ends. More than one person becomes so inclined to change their pace or even stop once that moment is reached. That is the time when in our confidence we are more inclined to be vulnerable since we think we have the victory. Far too many saints have faced disasters at that point from not maintaining the same level of vigilance.

Those are in reality the most crucial and significant of steps in that regard if we understand it. And if we don't remember it believe me Satan won't grant us any mercy in the process.

Plus if we forget or alter our level of trust we can end up in the process losing our strides of trust. I've seen that on a different level when I have seen someone at the gym who stopped exercising and then tried to start over. The mind still thinks they are in the same shape, but the body knows different. More than one person has not been able to regain what they lost in terms of fitness. Thus on a different level it can be with faith. When we are alive and trust our faith muscles grow. When we stop it is so easy for them to grow weak and starting over can be so difficult. Hopefully we will take the last few steps as needed and not pause to look back from too much pride.