God’s path for us always leads to higher ground.

By Darrel Lee

Seated at my desk, I was suddenly startled by a horrible commotion created as my daughter stumbled while attempting to make a routine trip upstairs to her room. She landed in disarray at the foot of the stairs just outside my office doorway, her scattered schoolbooks marking the path of her descent. Upon discovering that only her pride was shaken, we had a hearty chuckle over what could have been a calamity.

In the Eureka parsonage where we lived at the time, there are seventeen steps leading from the lower floor to the rooms upstairs. When the home was designed, the architect intended for people to use the steps to get to the second floor. He never planned that those steps would leave you in a heap at the bottom! Each step is eleven inches in front of and seven inches above the step before it, comfortably positioned so we can take one step at a time. However, an energetic young person can usually make it to the top faster by taking two or three at a time. Usually.

Did you know that God has a perfect path in which we are to travel through life? It is a course that always leads to higher spiritual ground. The Lord’s purpose is that we gain by the daily experiences of life. He intended these opportunities for spiritual growth to be stepping-stones. On the other hand, Satan—who wishes to impede our spiritual progress—would like us to look at these experiences as stumbling blocks. The difference between a stepping-stone and a stumbling block lies solely in how we react to them.

In John 3:16 we read of God’s love and the opportunity for salvation to all who believe. Subsequent verses in the same chapter speak of condemnation to those who choose not to believe. Though Jesus gave His life to provide us a stepping-stone to a better way of life, surprisingly, He is a stone of stumbling to some. Multitudes are marvelously saved to become part of a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:8-10). Others, upon hearing the Gospel, stumble farther into darkness. Our response to the light of the Gospel dictates whether it becomes a stepping-stone or a stumbling block for us.

The same can be said of our reaction to the ups and downs of life. Life is full of challenges and perplexing circumstances. God designed each one to be a personal stepping-stone to a closer walk with Him. Stumbling need not be an alternative.

The farm where I lived while growing up in Roseburg, Oregon, had quite a number of rocks. They were scattered throughout the barnyard. When my brothers and I misbehaved or became overly restless, our discipline was to go pick up the rocks in the barnyard. Oh, how we disliked those rocks! Then, to add insult to injury, we later had to move the rock pile. But along with the work, we also used to play a lot of games on the farm. One favorite was “King of the Mountain.” You guessed it, that same disgusting rock pile became the center stage of more than one afternoon of enjoyment.

We’ve heard it said that when handed a lemon, we should make lemonade. God hands us no lemons! He only presents opportunities to progress toward higher spiritual ground. Daily tests and trials need not be the hallmark of our lives. The hallmark can be the grace of God that aids us in daily stepping on top of those circumstances to gain spiritually.

While you will occasionally see one with a springing stride go up a flight of stairs two or three steps at a time, that will never work in our spiritual lives. Even if we could somehow skip over a spiritual test, we would only be sidestepping an intended blessing. Moreover, we would most likely stumble backward, only to face it again another time. Remember, after Jonah was delivered from the belly of the whale, the word of the Lord came to him the second time. God’s message hadn’t changed. If he had properly responded initially, a very unsavory excursion could have been avoided.

My daughter eventually navigated the seventeen steps to successfully arrive upstairs. Similarly, in order to get where God wants us to be, we must prayerfully address each challenge, one at a time, as it is set before us.

As we do so, we’ll reach the goal He has for us!

Darrel Lee is Superintendent General of the Apostolic Faith Church and pastor of the headquarters church in Portland, Oregon.