I stumble often, and I don’t mean just spiritually. I’ve fallen out of a plane (not kidding), skated across a parking lot on a hidden patch of snirt (snow and dirt), tumbled out of my seat at the Indianapolis airport (an unscheduled flight), and launched myself into our neighbor’s compost heap (ewww).

Lately I’m learning to place my steps with care. God invites us to do the same—and offers a surprise ending.

Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
    and be steadfast in all your ways. Proverbs 4:26

Give careful thought…

People seldom “ponder” (ESV) anymore. It sounds so last century, so…well, ponderous. Slow. Old fashioned. Yet God is calling us to “consider well” (AMP) before we act. To “plan carefully” (GNT), rather than rush into things.

Me? I over-plan, over-ponder. I spend too much time making lists, and not enough time doing what’s on them. The old English proverb, “Haste makes waste, and waste makes want,” sums up my slow-roll style.

How can under-planners and over-planners find a good balance? The Hebrew helps answer that. Palas means “to make level.” After all, a “straight” (DRA) path from A to B might be kind of boring, but a “level” (ASV) path with a firm foundation makes us less likely to trip or fall by the wayside.

Good thing, because the Lord is the one who designed our paths, and he always includes a few curves and bends to keep life interesting.

…to the paths for your feet…

The Hebrew word magal means a “track” or “entrenchment,” specifically, a circle dug around the camps of those who lived in the Ancient Near East. Staying inside that track kept people out of danger and “on the safe path” (NLT).

That’s what God wants for our spiritual walk—boundaries. His counsel to “know where you are headed” (CEV) and “make sure you are going the right way” (ERV) has more to do with following his Word than with looking for directions on MapQuest.

For most of my young life, I thought the Bible was an antiquated book of rules, an endless list of dos and don’ts. Only after I’d strayed far beyond the bounds of common sense and God’s wisdom did I finally understand that his path was the best path for me. It was “the straight path, the way of truth” (VOICE), and the only path that leads to peace in him, now and forever.

My testimony in a sentence? “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand” (Psalm 40:2).

Thank you, Lord, again, always.

…and be steadfast in all your ways.

Here’s that surprise ending I promised. When you follow God, putting one foot in front of the other, you never have to worry about where you’re going, or who’s going to keep the path cleared of debris, or how long the journey is going to take.

That means you don’t have to try to be steadfast—you are steadfast. You’re “secure” (CEB) and “established” (NASB) by the Lord, standing on “solid ground” (CEV). It’s not a doing thing, it’s a being thing.

Our job is not to look at our feet, but to look at God.

Our footing is made “firm”—kun, in Hebrew—through his strength alone. He built your path according to his perfect design. He charts the path, he walks the path, he is the path.

The Hebrew adds al natah—“not stretched, spread out, extended, inclined, bent, or turned”—as a reminder of what walking with God looks like. The road will “stretch out smooth before you” (MSG). No cracks in the pavement, no potholes, no speed bumps. Just the absolute certainty that “you will safely reach the end of your road” (VOICE).

His promises are true, and his Word can be trusted. “Nothing will make you fall” (ERV), beloved. Nothing.

Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
    and be steadfast in all your ways. Proverbs 4:26

Now it’s your turn

• How does this proverb help you? challenge you? encourage you?

Share your thoughts via Post a Comment below. Whatever you’re learning from the Lord, we’d love to benefit from it as well.

Here’s your Printable of Proverbs 4:26 (allow just a moment for it to download). You’ll also find this week’s verse paired with a tree-lined path on Pinterest.

Next Wednesday, we’ll explore one of our favorite subjects, and a perfect fit for Lent: hope.

Your sister, Liz
@LizCurtisHiggs #50Proverbs

P.S. As we celebrate Ash Wednesday here at the Higgs house, we’re also preparing for the release of Mercy Like Sunlight, my contemporary, fictional take on Mary Magdalene’s biblical story. This novella originally appeared as the opening half of my nonfiction book Mad Mary, later titled Unveiling Mary Magdalene. Now Mary Margaret Delaney’s journey of redemption has been set free as a stand-alone eBook for just $3.99. So grateful to have this available for my fiction readers. You can pre-order Mercy Like Sunlight now for your Kindle, Nook, and other eReader devices. Thanks for letting me share our news with you, even as we enter a season of quiet preparation, longing to hear again Mary’s words of assurance, “I have seen the Lord!” (John 20:18).

“Liz captures the heart and circumstances of a woman of Magdala and brings her into the twenty-first century…captivating us with Mary’s story.”
—Kay Arthur, author of Lord, Give Me a Heart for You 

“I love Liz’s work! Her insights are fresh and exciting and will draw readers back into the Word.”
—Francine Rivers, best-selling author of Redeeming Love