My in-laws came to visit last month and it was so great to spend time with them. This one cloudy afternoon found us hiking as we set out on an adventure to discover hidden treasure: a.k.a Geocaching (if you’ve never tried it, oh my, you simply must!).
Naturally, with two little boys, there is always a need for a bathroom, and while parked at the nearest port-a-potty, I observed a man walking by with walking sticks. Interestingly enough, the sidewalk looked flat, straight and seemingly unobstructed, so I was a little confused as to why he needed the sticks. “Probably for balance,” my father-in-law said. “Sometimes people with hearing disabilities need aid in keeping their balance.”
A couple of days later I found myself reading the book of Jeremiah, and stumbled upon this verse:
God’s message came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “A walking stick – that’s all.” And God said, “Good eyes! I’m sticking with you. I’ll make every word I give you come true.” Jeremiah 1:11&12
If you’ve ever read the book of Jeremiah, you’ll know that Jeremiah’s sole duty as a prophet was to tell the people about their pending doom. God was not happy with His people and He was using Jeremiah’s life to tell them about it… but… He was also using Jeremiah to remind them of His faithfulness and that His mercy would triumph in the end.
When the time came for Jeremiah to walk out his ministry, guess what “weapon” of choice God gave him? That’s right, a walking stick! Why? Because God knows that in order for His people to walk out their calling, gifting’s and purposes, they’re going to need His support in order to walk in proper alignment. And if our “deaf” ears are tuned to the wrong voice, then our balance will most certainly be off as we walk through life with a disability of an impaired perspective.
A walking stick is the perfect visual for the way Christ walks alongside us, but it’s our choice whether we use Him to journey through life with us, or if we think we can walk the seemingly flat, straight and unobstructed path on our own.
Jeremiah said, “A walking stick – that’s all.” And God said, “Good eyes!”
