not knowing where, when, how or why but knowing WHO

"The Lord gives me my strength 

He makes me like the deer which does not stumble. 
He leads me safely on the steep mountains." 

Habbakkuk 3:19 International Children's Bible

seeing an image of a deer or a mountain goat skillfully jumping from one tiny outcropping to another without slipping and falling below

so many times wanting God's leading to be more like a freeway

flat and graded smooth

paved over and stable

with bright street lights and 

huge clear signs that show

this is what road  you are on

this is where it leads 

this is how far to go to  your destination

this is where you can find services

and a head's up when there are long spaces of no immediate resource available

but this verse resonates with my experience 

those tiny outcroppings of rock are scarcely visible

a massive and insurmountably steep rock wall

with loose and unstable elements everywhere

but up close 

after looking and searching for a while

you can just see the next tiny outcropping ahead 

 not any further

but that is all you need 

to move to that next small spot

one step or small leap at a time

no whizzing along in comfort at 70 miles per hour

but a slow, careful but sure going from one tiny place of provision to the next 

not knowing what is ahead 

or how to get there

 or what will happen later

but knowing Who
is providing
navigating
leading

there is one who is with us 

and has placed one small step 

just within stretching reach

He has promised to lead 

and give us what we need

sometimes in huge ways

sometimes in tiny, incremental ways

navigated step by difficult and uncertain step

Our confidence is not in ourselves to find the right way or figure anything out

or that the path leads to where we get what we what necessarily 

but In the One who has gone before

and now is with us and providing 

just that one next step

He is the only one who knows which tiny outcropping is firm enough
to hold our weight
firm only because He is holding it and us up from underneath

He will not let us fall headlong

Oh Lord 

help us to focus on you instead of the path ahead

and then the next step becomes clearer

we don't feel or think like we are making any progress at all

but you see how far you have led us to this point

and you are not wasting any of this experience in any way 

to bring us closer to dwelling in the depths of you

and resting in who you are

we love you