Stepping Up

Is God leading you on a path – through a dark valley, over a mountain, or across a desert? Or do you feel stuck in the grassy plains that stretch from one horizon to the other, hopeless of change? Do you want to make progress as you go from here to there? Do you want to consistently take the high road in your circumstances instead of the tempting low road?

God is inviting us to go up, to draw our souls closer to Him through a spiritual pilgrimage. When we let Him lead, we never stay in the same place. He wants to take us to the next level, which is always out of our comfort of sameness. God wants us to make a daily practice of “going up” with Him.  The process of how we go there is part of getting there.

I’m beginning a journey through the Psalms of Ascent through Beth Moore’s Bible study Stepping Up, and over the next few weeks as I join a small group of beautiful ladies, I hope to summarize the words that the Spirit impresses on my heart.   Psalms 120-134 were sung by the Israelites during the Pilgrimage Feasts, so this part of Scripture will be the Biblical focus of my upward trek the next six weeks. 

I often lament that my emotions interfere with my walk.  But Beth Moore asks "What if those very emotions become avenues of worship rather than distraction?"  When your feelings need Biblical expression – overwhelming praise and gratitude or oppressing sorrow, fear or anger – the Psalms help us express them to God and turn our emotions into worship – and not just the happy thankful feelings but the not-so-pretty feelings too.  The Psalms show how we can bare our souls to integrate all our emotions into our relationship with Him. It's not like we can hide them from Him anyway since He knows us more intimately than we could ever know ourselves.

Beth Moore says that God has goals for us and a private agenda for each of us, but we can count on them being based on the following truths:

·         God desires to dramatically change our outlook on daily life.

·         God wants to raise us to a higher plain of worship and service.

·         God wills to usher us to the next step in our personal journeys with Him even if we have to press through the thickest forest to get it. (page 12)

My deepest desire at this time of my life is to interpret my circumstances, situations, and relationships through His eyes, and then match my steps with the path and rhythm of His. I eagerly anticipate learning how my emotions can be a source that evokes praise and worship to my Almighty God and draws me closer to Him.  Time to take the first step...