Walking in the Dark

"Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:5 NKJV

Mom taught me how to navigate through the dark.

She was (and still is) an early riser - like 4 AM early. I've always like the mornings, but not that early and certainly not in highschool when studying and a part-time job pushed me past midnight. So to compensate for our opposite schedules, we learned to maneuver around our tiny, two bedroom apartment with only natural light or darkness, especially when the other was sleeping. 

Walking in the dark is slow going at first as you train your other senses to be your eyes. But then, when you've mastered the traffic pattern - commited it to memory - you start picking up speed and it's almost as easy as walking in the light.

But, you do miss the light - being able to see far ahead.

Right now, I'm feeling my way around in the dark, seeing only shadows, and I'm kinda missing the bright lights. Headed to another writer's conference in July carrying the same book in my sachel as the year before - the one I know God's commissioned me to write - the story that tells how God healed my wounded heart and freed me up inside and out, where God offers that freedom trail to other sisters - I'm hungry for more light. 

I've spent the year growing up in the dark, committing God's ways to memory, honing my senses to hear His footsteps and look for shadows of His presence so I might follow His lead, and move a little further down the trail.

In Psalm 119:105, David writes:

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."

We don't have to see far ahead if we stay in close relationship with our heavenly Father, learn to trust him. His word, His promises will shed just enough light on our path, like a small lamp or a candle, that we won't trip. He promises that if we commit our way (our hopes, our dreams) to Him and His purposes, He will make it come to pass.

At last year's conference, God set this lesson before me: "Do not despise the small beginnings." And it's been a year of just that - small beginnings that when strung together form a long path that leads toward the bigger goal. In the midst of small beginings we get to feel our way through the dark slowly and safely until we're moving almost as easily as we do in the light.

Do you ever feel like you're walking around in the dark? What are some lessons God's teaching you as you walk in the dark? What promises has He light your path with that keep you trusting and moving forward?