HOW TO AVOID FALLING

Several years ago when I occasionally had a problem keeping my balance, I periodically used a cane. About a year ago I began using the cane all the time, as the balance problem had become worse. I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, which causes pain, numbness in the feet, and loss of balance. The doctor prescribed medicine to help alleviate the pain and sent me to see a neurologist.

I was told that most people with this type of neuropathy are diabetic but I am not. The neurologist explained that some forms of neuropathy have no known cause and also have no cure. Please don’t think the reason I am sharing is to get attention or sympathy, because I am not looking for either.

   

A lesson that I have relearned in the last several months has been how to avoid falling. I’ve learned this the hard way by taking several spills and ending up with some rather large bruises as well as numerous bloody scrapes and gashes.

I’ve found that in order to avoid falling, I must have a firm hold on something that is stable and strong. When I do what I know I should, I don’t fall; when I don’t do what I should then I get into trouble. By the way, several months ago I retired my cane and began using a walker to get around, as it provides me with much more stability.

The Bible has a lot to say about our being stable. Let me share with you just a little of what I have learned from my physical struggles and how it relates to our walk with God.

I am not using the word “falling” to suggest that one becomes unsaved. I am saying that when we don’t have a firm hold on what we should, we can lose our balance and end up in unnecessary difficulties as a result of our own laxity.

Just as Paul is getting ready to finish his first letter to the church at Corinth he says, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the last days your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). 

Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church should have special meaning for us. Corinth was a pagan city with many of the same problems that are plaguing our society today. The new converts were coming out of this highly heathen community and Paul, who started the church, was helping the new believers learn how to live in victory. That’s what he is talking about in the verse we just read.

What does the word steadfast mean? Steadfast as it is used here means to be marked by firm determination, to be unshakable, to be firm.

How do we become steadfast? Let me just give you one verse of Scripture to chew on.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

After I began using the walker, I read the Proverbs 3 where says, “Do not lean on your own understanding.” I began laughing at myself as I thought about my arrogance in thinking that I did not need any help — and especially thinking that I would never need a walker. Carrying a cane is not too bad, as it can look rather aristocratic. But a walker? Babies use walkers! And, well, as you now know, so do I. And there goes my pride on that one.

The word acknowledge in verse 6 is really important for all of us to grasp. Our contemporary use of the word is to draw attention to something or to affirm the existence of something. But to think that is the meaning of the word here is totally wrong. The core of the meaning in Hebrew is from the word yada, which means to know, to know face to face, to know intimately (e.g., a married couple).

And here is the promise for those who acknowledge Him: “He will make your paths straight.” The word straight means to make level/smooth, to be upright (in contrast to fallen).

I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of our personal relationship with Him. It’s deadly to fall out of a daily time of communion with Him in prayer and in His Word. It’s in the simplicity of our personal contact with Him that we find ourselves in touch with the one thing in our universe that is fully stable — and it’s not a government; it’s not a leader; it’s not gold or silver. There is only one fully stable Person to hold on to and that is God.

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you” (Isaiah 42:6).