Christian Living

Even Steven

by Terry Barlow
03/04/14
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Teach me your way," the psalmist asks the LORD, "and lead me in a level path because of my enemies." (psalm 27 v.11) Level speaks to me. Level speaks that we may be too much up and down, up one day down the next, inconsistent, unstable, unsteady, uneven. But the way of Yahweh is the way of steadiness and stability. It is predictable for its evenness from day to day. You can plot your course by it, the way a sailor navigates by stars that like constellations are in the same position in relation to each other from night to night. You know what to expect from them, you are not left anxiously wondering what may come next. May our families and churches be like guiding constellations in the dark world! Earlier I had noticed how, when the storm rose up against the disciples and Jesus in their fishing boat, Jesus did not react to it, even though the Amplified Bible tells us it was a storm "of hurricane proportions." So steady was the peace of Jesus that he was sleeping right through that raging storm and would have slept through all of it had his panicky disciples not awakened him. (Though I am not blaming them nor do I deceive myself that I would have done any different.) In fact, Jesus here might be likened to the all seeing eye of calm at the center of the hurricane, undaunted and unfazed by the wild winds of spiritual warfare swirling all around him.  Peace like that requires an assurance at its foundation, an assurance that the Father is in charge and has everything, including you, in His capable hands and always will. That kind of blessed assurance gives rise to a peace that allows us to take different kinds of situations in stride. We want to walk a level path "because of the enemy" who thrives on unsteadiness and instability in our behavior and treats them as open door invitations into our lives, and into the lives of our families and churches.