13: Walking in God’s Stride
Enoch walked with God.
WHENEVER I READ THIS VERSE, I am intrigued. What was Enoch like? What was the relationship between God and Enoch like?
Walking with God is not just for Enoch. In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers says we must “Get into God’s stride.”[1] So what does this look like?
Micah 6:8 states, “What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
I compare walking with God to walking or having lunch with a close friend. We laugh, talk, listen, share our hearts, and focus our attention on each other. When we walk in God’s stride, He becomes our heart’s greatest desire. When we walk in God’s stride, meeting with Him isn’t reserved for Sunday morning. To walk with God, we need to say no to other things. Walking with God has a letting-go aspect to it as well.
Denise and I were having breakfast recently at a restaurant, and I watched another couple as they came in and sat down. She was on her phone and paused to order and then continued to talk. He looked out the window. She ended one call only to take another within five minutes. This continued throughout the entire breakfast. This is not walking in stride together.
Thomas Merton has a prayer in his book Thoughts in Solitude. I pray this for myself. You may want to pray it for yourself.
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.[2]
So, my fellow traveler, may we walk in stride with God and not always have to be in charge. Here are three aspects to living this out.
- You must walk in stride with God purposefully.
- It is more fulfilling to walk with God in community with others. Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.” A few benefits of community are to encourage and be encouraged, to have sounding boards for input and perspective, and to have a safe place to share and collaborate.
- Walking in God’s stride can change with our seasons of life and that’s okay.
In Genesis 5:24 we read that Enoch walked with God, he didn’t run. I know that the days of Genesis were a different time and that today the world moves at a faster pace. So often I feel that I must run. Yet, the message for me is to remember Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.” God wants us to slow down, to still the frenetic noises in our head and to walk with Him so that we might listen and know Him.
Questions
- What does walking in God’s stride mean for you in this season of life?
- When have you walked closely with God? Describe your life and your relationship with Him during that time of closeness. What were the benefits?
- Recall a time when you were not walking in stride with God. Why were you reluctant to walk with Him during this time? What were the consequences?
- What do you need to let go of in order to slow down and listen more intently?