WATCH YOUR STEP

          I live on a dirt road.  After the harsh winter we had, our road was filled with crater-sized potholes; you know, the kind you can lose the entire front end of your car in.  They were very large and easy to spot, so I got pretty good at avoiding those potholes, both in my car and while on foot running.
          The DPW finally got around to repairing our road.  The large potholes are gone (yay!), but in their place we now have a whole lot of stones, both small and not so small.
          Now in my car, these stones are no big deal.  But on foot, they have the potential to be a hazard if I’m not careful.  While the potholes were large and easy to spot and thus easy to avoid, the stones are smaller, not as easy to see, and I have to watch for them so I don’t end up stepping on one and twisting my ankle.
         Reminds me of our spiritual walk.  As the Lord sanctifies us, the “potholes”, the obvious sins, the traps of the enemy, those things we perhaps struggled with for a long time, become easier to spot up ahead.  And we wisely avoid them like the plague, leaving a wide berth as we navigate past them, so we are sure not to fall in.
          But then there are the “little stones”, the more “subtle” sins, those that are more difficult to spot.  Yet if we let them trip us up, they can be just as damaging.  They may be different for all of us.  Pride?  Self-righteousness? Self-centeredness?  Spiritual apathy or complacency?  Neglecting the fellowship of other believers?  Letting my quiet time slide? A lazy prayer life?  I could go on and on.  I know what the Holy Spirit is pricking my conscience about.  Will you allow Him to prick yours?  Not so He can condemn you, but so that, by His grace, He can prevent you from taking a spiritual fall.
         “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)
          Let’s continue to stay out of those big potholes, but don’t forget to watch out for the “little stones.”

Stacey Poplawski
WOC Graduate

2 thoughts on “WATCH YOUR STEP”

  1. Stphanie L. Dickinson says:
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    Stphanie L. Dickinson's avatar

    REALLY beautiful reminder, Stacey, of the “little sins” becoming huge obstacles of turning away from G-d.
    When I read your writing today, it put a whole, new thought upon the verse, (let the angels protect you)”lest
    we dash our foot against a stone.” I always believed that verse to infer that the angels were watching over
    us so that we did not get physically hurt….now I am inclined to believe that the “dashing” to which the
    verse refers, is really talking about us not falling into “little sin”.

    Thanks for writing such a thought-provoking story today.

    Stephanie from Lancaster, Pennsylvania

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