Will You Walk With Me?

It’s that time of year again, it happens every year. Our car is due for inspection and I have this week to get it done. There was only one problem and it wasn’t getting an appointment with my mechanic. My problem was finding a way home once I dropped the car off at the garage. Since we’re down to one car and no one was available there was only one way home…WALK. So I put on my coat, hat and grabbed my MP3 player prepared to walk the three miles (yes, I measured it) home. I was not looking forward to this trek. On my way to the garage complaints ran through my head. And once I started my walk the complaints just increased…

I complained about…
- The cold, yet it really was not that cold at all.
- The distance I had to walk, yet I walk three miles or more a day for fun and exercise.
- The condition of the road. It’s hilly and windy all the way home, and oh yeah, my MP3 player was low in battery.

I was maybe a quarter of the way home and in full complaint mode when I noticed something I would not normally see while driving. I saw an open field with trees in the distance and a blue sky, but it was an old farmhouse that caught my eyes. The view was like a painting I’d seen hanging in my grandparent’s house when I was a kid. It was then I took a moment to really appreciate the walk. As I got closer to home my poor attitude and complaints went farther away. Then my thoughts became a prayer. I thanked God for my wife. I thanked God for the ministry He has called me to even when it gets tough. I thanked God for each of my teens and I prayed for each one. I thanked God for the picture he painted for me. And I thanked God for the walk, because during my complaining He used creation to get my attention to ask me a question; “Will you walk with me?”

I then realized how foolish I was for complaining and how selfish I was being. It led to a full blown conversation with God the rest of the way home that resulted in some self examination. How often do I complain about stupid things, stuff that really doesn’t matter? How often do I get caught up with being “busy” and then complain about being “busy”? How often do I waste time that could be spent talking with God?

“Walk with me” is what God wants from each of us everyday, all day. The question is, will we accept His daily invitation or will we allow the busyness of this world to distract us because spending time with God is more then reading the Bible. He wants our full attention.