By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Last week I shared my life verse – Psalm 16:8 – and how it encourages me in the New Year as well as in every new endeavor.
Recently I discovered what I consider to be a companion verse. As is often the case when reading scripture, this companion verse is one I’ve read many times. But on one particular day near the end of 2019, it spoke to me personally.
Look straight ahead,
and fix your eyes on what lies before you.
Mark out a straight path
for your feet.
Stay on the safe path.
Don’t get sidetracked.
Proverbs 4:25-27 NLT
When I saw the phrase “what lies before you,” it connected to me with my life verse that says, “I have set the Lord always before me.”
This passage from Proverbs seemed to be giving me specific encouragement, and I copied it into my journal in the following form:
Look straight ahead,
and fix your eyes on what lies before you.
Mark out [plan] a straight path
for your feet [writing].
Stay [keep] on the safe path [plan].
Don’t get sidetracked.
Proverbs 4:25-27 NLT
This is my “amplified” version of the passage. The words in brackets are how I personalize the scripture and apply it to my life.
It’s easy to get distracted by things other than our purpose – even when we’ve heard from the Lord about what that purpose is.
So often we respond to the lure of “I see it, therefore I want it.”
Or we fall prey to, “I can do that.”
This passage from Proverbs helps me ask key questions:
Just because I want something, does that mean I need it?
Just because I can do something, does that mean I should?
Good friend, sculptor, and horsewoman Lynne Schricker once told me in reference to the “sword of the Spirit” which is the word of God, “Find a handle and hang on.”
These two passages, Psalm 16:8 and Proverbs 4:25-27 are my handles. I have one for each hand and I’ll be holding on to these this year as I keep moving forward with what the Lord has directed me to do.
I encourage you in the next few days, find your handle for the word of God and hang on. There are things on the road ahead that will serve as distractions. Grip your handle(s), and don’t get sidetracked.
Write the scriptures that speak to you on 3-by-5 cards and tape them to the bathroom mirror, the kitchen window, the refrigerator, wherever your eye frequently travels. Reinforce yourself with words that brings life. The words of the world around us are so often empty. Take hold of what will last and …
look straight ahead.
~
Find a handle and hang on. Share on X Just because I can, should I? Share on X
On a whim, she turned off the path and headed for the waterfall, hoping it was as beautiful as she remembered in winter. Frozen solid in an everlasting descent.
Only the horse crunching through snow broke the stillness, for the dog followed behind now, finding it easier on his old bones, she supposed. An occasional jay or squirrel scolded as they passed, and the pristine beauty of the land soothed Abigale’s sense of loss.
People came and went, but the land—the land was forever. ~Just in Time for Christmas
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
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(c) 2020 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
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