One of the advantages of supporting Liverpool Football Club (or Celtic Football Club if you’re that way inclined) is that the anthem for the team is the greatest in all sport.
You’ll Never Walk Alone.
It cannot be topped. Simple as that. It’s a gripping emotional and binding experience to witness thousands of fans hold aloft their scarves and insist that whatever you’re walking through, you’ll never walk alone.
In reality that’s not always the case. A couple of bad results, a few bad performances, the distinct feeling that things are not going your way and it can seem as though you are all alone. Dogged and persistent are the fans that will still chant your name if your run of form is dismal.
In life, however, faith in Christ has a remarkable way of helping you greatly even in dismal times. How this works is when your footsteps are directed by the one who walks ahead of you. The path of discipleship is not one free of obstacles or opposition. Yet it is a path that has light shining the way, because He who walks ahead is the Light.
As we literally walk in the light of His leading we may not see all the way home, but we’re assured that the next step is going to be safe. The challenge remains walking where light shines the way.
It’s challenge because there are other enticing paths that wish to attract us.
I thought that this particular route would work out for me. It was one that would afford my family relative financial security and although it would eat up a lot of my time and energy, being able to prove myself a man and provide for my family was the overwhelming driving motivation.
Pursuing that path seemed a bright idea at the time and had initial benefits for my family and I. Over some months, however, it became clear that I had given up much more than I had bargained for by going down what was essentially a pride-filled path. I had put my family before what God wanted from me. Ironically for all the financial benefits my family experienced, they didn’t get much in the way of quality character from me, because I was invested in keeping up appearances at the workplace. Neglecting quality relationship building with my family, neglecting quality development of relationships, especially the divine relationship. All in pursuit of that family security thing and a status of manhood that missed the mark of Christlikeness.
I knew I was in a bad way when it was clear what was a bright idea had lead me down a dark alley. The more I persisted the darker the way became.
It’s one thing to sing You’ll Never Walk Alone, it’s another to experience people coming alongside you even in some dark alleys who can shine His light to direct you out of the situation. Faith is not just an individualistic pursuit, it’s communal and based on good fraternal friendships. My course might have steered me away from the transparency of those relationships, but those good people would not let me go. They would not let me walk alone, for walking in the Light even as He is in the Light is a together business.
Their persistent love, gentle challenges, looks of concern and what I later found out was time taken praying and fasting to God on my behalf eventually influenced me to at least converse with God. Remind myself with how I am who I am, and how pivotal He is to that entire process.
Those good brothers and sisters in Christ were crucial in getting me to take the necessary steps to do what it took to return to walking where the Light shines the way. Initially it did cause a hit on the family financially, but Jesus remained faithful when He said that when we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, that which we consider essential will be added.
That seeking first is signing on a commitment to walk in the Light and only traverse where Light shines the way. For activities that appeal and entice, it is essential to see first if Light shines the way before I pursue them, which will help me and stop me going down dark alleys.
As I walk in the Light I am assured, even more than my support of Liverpool, that I will never walk alone. For He is with me.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 