Walking With Jesus

This past Sunday, I led a group of young people on a “Moses Walk” designed by one of our parishioners here at Hope.  These four pre-teens braved the afternoon heat and our very own Egyptian plague of love bugs to walk around the property, pick up “weakness” stones like “doubt” and “fear” and then carry those stones to the center of our prayer labyrinth, leaving them there for God.

Then, each one of them walked out with a staff, symbolizing God’s support of us.

Here was thing, though, because of the love bugs and the rumor of wasps in the labyrinth, I couldn’t convince one kid to step foot in the labyrinth.  With its chest-high hedges and narrow path, our labyrinth can seem pretty intimidating.

And those kids were not taking one step in there—until I took that first step for them.

I had to walk the path for them first and then they followed.

The world is a scary place these days, isn’t it?

We take nothing for granted.

Nothing is guaranteed. 

There are obstacles awaiting us in every path.  Contrary to the Robert Frost poem, there is no road more or less traveled by.  Every road comes with its own challenges and own rewards.

Just last week, I was thinking about how when I attended my first seminary class years ago, that every week there seemed to be some literal obstacle I had to face on the highway on the way to Orlando.

There was the rock that flew up and cracked my windshield.

There was my tire tread that decided it was ready for a divorce and separated itself from the rest of the tire while I was driving 70 mph in the fast lane of the Beachline. 

Every time something like this happens in my life, I tend to yell out to the universe, “Oh come on!”

But we continue on, don’t we?  Somehow even when the world seems dead-set against us, we keep going and usually with help.

When my tire tread flew off, I didn’t lose control of the car.  I managed to pull over to the shoulder without incident.  But the true miracle that night was that when I pulled over to the shoulder, a Road Ranger pulled in right behind me, changed my tire in a flash and sent me on my way.

That night, right before the tire tread came off, I could feel the back end of the car wobbling.  I knew something bad was going to happen and I started praying right there and I started thinking about the Israelites fleeing Egypt with Moses and how God appeared as a pillar of fire at night to guide them and as a cloud during the day to lead them. 

Exodus 13:22 says, “Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people,” except later in Exodus 14 when the cloud moves behind the Israelites to shield them from the Egyptians. 

That night, I prayed that God would surround me with His angels, both in front of me and behind me to keep me safe.

And He did.

God walks the path with us.  God has already walked the path before us.  God has walked every path.

And right now, if you’re a showtune fan, the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” should be playing in your head.

Every path we will ever walk, God has walked before us and will again walk it with us.

Though we may never have the answer to why suffering exists in this world, we know this … and we know this through Jesus, God has suffered it all.  And God suffers with us.

We are never alone.

Today’s appointed Psalm, Psalm 121, is my favorite.  I almost feel bad for saying I have a favorite, like the other psalms will have their feelings hurt.  They’re good too.

Please let me share it again here.


I lift up my eyes to the hills—
    from where will my help come?

 My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

 The Lord is your keeper;
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand.

 The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time on and forevermore.


I can’t tell you the comfort these words bring to me.

He will not sleep.

The sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

He will guard your going out and your coming in.

There is no part of your life that He does not have covered.

We do not walk alone.

Earlier I told you that in order to get those four children to walk the labyrinth, I had to go first.

And after that, one by one, they all made their way to the center.

Well, three of them did.  The fourth one did not.

I’m not sure why.  I didn’t ask her.  Maybe it was the love bugs.  Maybe the rocks she carried were too heavy.

What I do know is this:  the other three took her rocks, her “weaknesses” into the labyrinth for her.  They carried them together and they left them behind and they brought her back the staff to support her.

It was a beautiful moment.

And it was no small thing.

It gives me hope for the future.

The paths are littered with obstacles.

The journey is always hard.

But God is always with us.

Amen.