I would like to dispel any ideas or myths that the articles written on this website are some how formulated by a wise and talented woman.  Today I would like to make it clearly known that this writer is a befuddled mess most of the time.  I struggle, I really do.  I return to certain sins over and over and over again.  I get exhausted.  I become depressed.  I cry over the craziest things.  It is just ridiculous how anxious and worrisome I can be.   At the end of the day, my self assessment would be that I am a hopeless mess.

So why share this with you?  Why make it public?  Why not.  Why not just admit this is what I am.  I want to honestly share that my life is not all cookies and cream.  I am just taking a guess here, but I’m thinking that your life is not perfect either.

I come to write to share what I have learned or what I am learning.  Sometimes I get so excited about what God is revealing I just want to document it somewhere, somehow.  I have been so frequently blessed and encouraged by people who show a genuine interest in wanting to share in that learning process with me.

We all are on a journey.  We walk a path.  On my path, I so deeply crave to walk with God.

I have been reading through Genesis very slowly.  I am up to chapter 7 and already have two pages of notes, questions and thoughts.  There are two brief sections that I want to share that I have been mulling over.  What has been standing out is the phrase “walked with God”.

“When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah.  And after he became the father of Methuselah Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.  Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”
Genesis 5:21-24 (NIV).

“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” Genesis 6:9 (NIV).

Isn’t it amazing that the Bible would document these men for all time with this seemingly simple phrase, they walked with God.

These three words are easy to say but monumentally challenging to live out.

Let me start out by identifying that this does not say God walked with Enoch or God walked with Noah.  So I must humbly come to the conclusion that God is not going to walk with me.  The God, who created heaven and earth, is not going to allow me to be the tour guide and direct the course.  Even though, my plan may seem really great to me.  I can even try to explain this to God how I did my research and my cost comparison analysis, and really reviewed the travel guides, maps and department of transportation construction announcements.  God is not going to walk with me in the lead.

So now that I know what a walk with God is not.  Let’s look at what a walk with God may mean.

God is in the lead.  It is God who knows the path, not I.  No matter how sure I may think myself to be.  I have to recognize and acknowledge that God is in charge and then I must submit to Him.  “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11 (NIV).

God sets the pace.  If I am going to walk with God, I’m going to have to go at His pace.  Otherwise I will not be with Him, I will be in front of or behind Him.  Instead I need to be with Him, meaning by God’s side.  I love how the Message translation reads in Romans 3:28 “What we’ve learned is this: God does not respond to what we do; we respond to what God does. We’ve finally figured it out. Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade.”   Oh how many times I have proudly or anxiously tried to take a hold of those reigns and lead.

In God’s presence.  To really be with someone means to give of my attention; to physically be looking towards them, to not be distracted in my mind about other things and to be open to hearing what they have to say.

It happened during their lives.  It did not say that it was after their deaths that Enoch and Noah walked with God.  It is included in the story of their lives.  So while living during a time when wickedness ran rampant through the world two men drew near and found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

I wonder if these are the things that Enoch and Noah did to earn such a huge honor of being documented in the Bible as having walked with God?  Did they allow God to be the lead in their lives?  Did they walk by God’s side at His pace?  Did they give God the best of their attention, putting themselves in His presence?  If they were able to walk with God in their lives, regardless of the circumstances that surrounded them, could I, too, walk with God in my life?

Dearest and Beloved Lord,

Thank You for placing the stories of Enoch and Noah in the Bible.  I know that many times I have overlooked the statement that these men of no different makings than my own, walked with You.  Lord, to be at Your pace, to allow You to lead, to really be with You seems so impossible to me because I am so weak, easily distracted and quick to become anxious.  Please through the strength of Christ Jesus, by Your own doing help me to walk with You.

In the sweet name of Jesus, amen.