“Though a righteous man falls seven times, he will get up…” ~PROVERBS 24:16

Two decades ago, I was a young woman still in her teens but fully adult. I was finally in the world on my own–away from home in undergrad studying art–and learning who I truly was in Christ when the usual comforts of the familiar were nowhere to be found.

The choices I made were my own. Where I went, who I hung out with, what I ate, how much detergent I put in my laundry. All the choices–all my own to make.

I am grateful that at the very beginning of that path the Lord seemed to shine with a brighter and more defined light than He had been before. No, He was not distant from me before, but things were much clearer.

We walked even closer than we had been before but how He began to relate to me was much different. I was growing. I was now an adult. Things were different and with that shift, there were some major truths that had to be established in order for me to grow into the woman I am now.

The first thing the Lord expressed to me was that my time in undergrad was not just a means for me to gain a degree and land a nine to five and a 401k.  This time was a time of transition, a time for me to cease to be the ‘little girl’ dependent upon the culture and opinions of my family, but to become Christ’s woman, completely rooted and grounded in His call and purpose for my life and destiny.

The second thing He established was my place in Him, my position, and path, and the ease to always walk in it.

“There will be times in your walk to where I (Jesus) am leading you that you will stumble off the path. Simply get back on and keep walking. Keep moving forward.”

He illustrated this to me one Spring day while I was leaving the university library. Now to give you a visual, the library is sat upon a hill with a long ramp on both sides of the main entrance.

Daily I would walk up one of the ramps, and daily I would walk down. On this particular day, I walked along the edge of the ramp as I made my descent to the lower part of campus en route to the cafeteria. The edge of the ramp was maybe three inches high, forming a balance beam of sorts.

I made it midway down the length of the ramp until I lost my balance and slipped off into the grass. Just as quickly as I had slipped off, I stepped right back up on the balance beam edge of the ramp and continued my trek downward.

But just at that moment, I heard the Lord whisper a question, “Candice, what did you just do there?”

I remember frowning at the question, seeing it as bizarre, but still answered. “Lord,” I said, “I slipped off the edge into the grass and then I got back onto the edge and kept walking.”

“Exactly!” He responded. “Just like you did with this ramp, do that in your faith. There will be times in your walk to where I am leading you that you will stumble off the path. Simply get back on and keep walking. Keep moving forward.”

Get back on and keep moving forward.

Get back on and keep moving forward.

GET BACK ON AND KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Fellow Creatives, allow me to offer this gift of being established on a firm foundation as we take our steps into new years and a new decade. We, as the new creations in Christ (II COR. 5:17) and His righteousness (II COR. 5:21), are going to face different challenges, struggles, letdowns, and disappointments. We are going to make decisions that may cause detours or delays. We are going to encounter opposition to our callings and fog that threatens the clarity of our dreams, vision, and destinies.

…We might get off track. But the glory of God is that by His free grace all we have to do is get back on track and keep moving forward.

The Word of God tells us that we will stumble and we may fall. We are at times going to wrestle with uncertainty, our faith may wain but it will also burn brightly and even rage like an inferno if we simply keep moving forward.

I am so grateful that the Faith of God in Christ is that of child-like faith. I am grateful that His grace is free unto all who believe. For because of that faith and grace we are made able to get back on and keep moving forward no matter how many times we fall or miss our desired mark.

So, make your plans. With the direction of the Holy Spirit, plot your maps for the next years of your life, the next project that you have in mind, the book you intend to write, the ministry you intend to launch. And do so knowing that if and or when you stumble out of the path to your destiny all it takes is a step back up and the willingness to keep moving forward!

~Poiema, Poetry in Motion

–Candice Coates is an author, blogger, and contributor to Ambo TV. To read more from her, follow her blog at www.icameforthesoup.com