MY FOOT IS SLIPPING
You are precariously placed on the precipice of a mountain rock. Your muscles are aching with fatigue, and the room to maneuver is very little. Circumstances haven’t been favorable as well- the drizzle has made the rocks wet and while it would have been good to have a climbing partner, this was one climb you decided to go solo. As you exert pressure with your foot to make the next move, you realize that your foot is slipping——-.
What is true of climbing can be true of life itself. Circumstances appear to conspire against you at certain times and you desperately feel your foot slipping. The Psalmist in the Bible recalls such moments from his life and pens these unforgettable words,
When I said, “My foot is slipping, your love, O Lord supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul” (Psalms 94:18)
When faced with foot slipping moments in life, the sure thing that you can lean back upon is the love of God. Unlike the love of people, God’s love remains true and triumphs through adversity. God’s love is the initiator in the relationship between man and God and is not dependent on man’s love for its sustenance. In fact the love of God is the very nature of God and hence the foundation of the visible universe created by God. And so it follows that man’s greatest need is also to be loved. And no other can love and cherish us as God does.
The Psalmist could have said, ‘you strength supported me’ and he would not have been false. But when he says ‘God’s love supports us’, it takes us to the very heart of God’s nature and also the need of man. And knowing that God’s love shall remain true, despite our flawed understanding of circumstances we go through and the confusions that reign, is greater and better than knowing that God’s strength will equip us. So things might not work out as we planned or expected, but knowing that He loves us and will bring only the best in our lives, keeping eternity in perspective, is the greatest treasure man can have when going through trying moments in life.
The Psalmist also talks of anxiety that can rage within a man’s heart, consequent to trying situations and future challenges. The God we have come to intimately experience in our lives is not One who gets away by advising us certain rituals and burdening us with relaxation techniques. He is actually capable of consoling us- an act that comes to fruition only because He is a personal God, who can interact with and identify with us, because in Christ He walked the earth as a mere man and experienced all that we go through. All we need to do is find time to spend in His presence, and remain in Him by obeying Him so that His consolation will indeed come home to us.
Foot slipping moments cannot be avoided, but God’s love sees us through the worst of them.
