Walking with God

What does it mean to walk with God?

What does it look like?

What does it feel like?

Why would you want to?

"Walking with God" is an expression that many Christians are familiar with. For many it is an expression of faith in hard times or a way to reflect with hindsight. For many, the poem "Footprints in the Sand" -by Mary Stevenson, comes to mind. 

But this expression is very much self-centered. Its core is God being by OUR side. Nothing is wrong with this perspective, but I would like to express an alternative. A testimony of walking WITH God instead.

In February 2023 I had the opportunity to spend 4 days in an area called "Engikaret" in Tanzania. I was in a team of 11 and we were in the tail end of a 7-week outreach trip. We were told by our hosts that the best ministry for the people was prayer. That there was little else we could effectively do to bless them. 

Our first morning here, we found ourselves in awe of the beautiful landscape around us. We were in a dessert valley sandwiched between four mountains; one of which was Mt. Kilimanjaro who was in the east where the sun rose. It did not take us long to realize that our purpose here was something different than what our hosts had come to expect from their visitors. 

Our team through a time of intersession, made the commitment to pray for this beautiful land 24/7 for the entire duration of our visit. In a contradictory way, it was not the people we found ourselves praying for but the land in which they inhabited.

So, for the next several days, while we followed the schedule of or hosts, we stationed a person or two to be continuously praying. And every morning at 5:30, we would wake up and disperse to walk out into the desert and around the compound we were staying in to pray. We would then gather together at the top of a water tower for worship, intersession and sharing what was heard from God during the last 24 hours.

Evening on the water tower.

Walking out into the desert was an amazing experience. I cannot express just how gratifying this time was. To just pray for hours and hours while walking into the depths of this valley basin is an experience that I will cherish forever.

Now, before you begin to question the following interaction, remember that rocks sing, and plants can be cursed for not following their purpose. We follow a living God and through him and the Spirit, there are things that cannot be explained yet through our modern understanding. God spoke all things into existence and all things resonate with his power. 

Resting in my hammock.

On one occasion I was doing my shift in my hammock. I was talking to God and I was talking to the land. At some point I began singing in tongues (I found myself doing this often actually). This song was directed at the land, I felt as though I was singing a lullaby and blessing. When I was finished, she thanked me for my song and asked if I would like to hear one from her. 

After agreeing she asked me to take off my shoes and walk a certain distance (just a few steps). I was reluctant though; this place was so filled with thorns and bristles that every night we would pull hundreds and hundreds of thorns from our shoes. She encouraged me and I did as she asked. But of course, I then suffered thorns to my feet. I hobbled back towards my hammock in anger and blamed her for not being truthful to me and not even singing a song like she promised.

But after calming I allowed her to explain. (this part is paraphrased) "This was my song, don't you see? Is my song not unlike the crown your king bares? You claim he died to renew ALL things, ALL creation; am I not also his creation? My people are nomadic and their failure to saturate my lands has cause me to become dormant. But now the times have changed, up until now it was only they who could walk upon me without pain."

"But now the outside has come in and their trampling has begun to awaken me. I have feared that my people will change and that I would then die off completely. But is it not also your king who has been walking my lands? Every step he has taken has seeped blood into my sands, every step has been a drumbeat, calling out for me to awaken and fulfill my duties. He renews me, and now I have strength and purpose to fight for the renewal of my people. The thorns, and the blood are my story and my song."

I was then struck with a very vivid image. As we had been walking the land, we had been walking side by side with Jesus. Trails of red followed us everywhere we went. And every time a person walked over one of these trails, Jesus would appear by their side and walk with them too. The mission facility we were at, had been circled by us many times, and every time a person walked through, they would leave the gates, thick with his presence. I could see the nomadic people of the region bringing Jesus with them to every corner of the valley, until no grain of sand was left undyed by his blood.

What does it mean to walk with God?

I believe in the end, the answer is different for everybody. But it can be so much more than simply leaning on him for support and company. Jesus died for the renewal of all creation and we have been blessed to carry the Holy Spirit in us. We too, hold the duty to go to all people and share the awareness of Gods goodness and living existence.

I challenge you, whoever you are, reflect on your personal walk. Consider if you have invited Jesus to walk by your side, or if you have taken it for granted. Seek God honestly, and ask who's walk you are really on, and what kind trail has been left behind you.

God bless you all and may you find prosperity in your lives.

This has been Lillyana Walking with God