More From Karen Wingate

February 3, 2023 by Karen Wingate (Arizona, USA)

As I read through my own words in the devotion I wrote for today, my eyes stopped on the sentence, “God walks with us, protecting us from unseen dangers and guiding us through whatever we encounter.” Those generalized words were easy to write. But give the phrases “unseen dangers” and “whatever we encounter” a name, and fear rises from the nearest rock and laughs at my renewed panic despite my resolve to trust God. Yet, two years later, many encounters bear a name, and I can tell you with confidence that God is faithful.

Much has happened since I initially wrote this devotion over two years ago. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world and forced us all to live routines that were foreign to most of us. After a year of COVID-19 restrictions, my husband chose to retire, and we relocated from the snowy Midwest to the sunny Southwest. The move brought about lots of planned and unplanned encounters. My mother’s health continues in a downward spiral, and my husband’s chronic pain has worsened. My writing and speaking ministry took me into unfamiliar yet exciting territory—me, the girl who used to cry and get nose bleeds every time she spoke or sang before a crowd. And in the middle of it all, my ocular pressure spiked, threatening the eyesight in my better eye.

Could God guide me around these boulders that now bore names?

I thought back to those hiking trips with Uncle Eldon. Yes, his stick steered me around boulders. But I also remember many of those hiking trips were along trails I had been on before. I knew where I was going, and my mind bore a mental map of the layout of the path. Just help me around the rocks I’m not sure about,\ and I’ll be fine, was my attitude. But plunk me down in the middle of a completely unknown environment? That’s different. Suddenly, I’m no longer so comfortable.

Yet even in those times when my family’s hiking forays took us into virgin territory, Uncle Eldon’s stick remained steady, and he was ever patient. The same is true with God. New situations don’t phase God. It might make me blink and grit my teeth, but it’s not new to God. God knows all about the trails and trials I face. God made the earth and made me; God knows the past and the future. No matter what obstacle lies in my path, God can deal with it. Even when I walk through valleys streaked with shadows that obscure danger (Ps. 23:4), I don’t need to be afraid, for God can handle it. God will guide me safely through anything. And so God has.

Yes, we really can relax, no matter what unknown we face, because God is still in control over everything. Whatever unknowns we face, God will see us through. It is all under God’s care, knowledge, power, and protection. And God will, with unending patience and unfailing love, guide us all the way to the end of our life’s trail.


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