Making Footprints - XC DEVO

Rance writes devotionals each week to pass out to the cross country runners to read on the way to the cross country meet!  I thought I'd share because it definitely challenged me and maybe it will you too...

Psalm 63 Joy in the Fellowship of God

A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
² So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

³ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
⁴ Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
⁵ My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

⁶ When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
⁷ Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
⁸ My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.

V.1 May your footprints lead you to a place of personal fellowship with God where you daily find yourself declaring, “YOU ARE MY GOD!”  May you MAKE FOOTPRINTS early in the morning searching to spend time with God!  Often after practice we are thirsty and hungry and we dash to water and food!  May our footprints be found in a dry and thirsty land!  May our footprints declare that NOTHING in this world will ever SATISFY us the way God does!  May our footprints lead us to a place where HE ALONE quenches our thirst!  May our footprints lead us to a place where He alone FILLS OUR HUNGER!  May we have eyes to recognize times in life where our footprints have went/are going to a place where there is no thirst or hunger for God!  May we turn around and make new footprints back to the dry and thirsty land where only God satisfies us!

V.2  A sanctuary is a place “set apart.”  May you have a place/time in your daily life where your footprints are found going to your sanctuary!  A place set apart with no distractions!  No interruptions!  No people!  No phones!  Nothing to take your mind off your time with God!  May your footprints stay there for a little while!  May your footprints become knee prints as you set aside time in your busy life to kneel and declare you’re a deep Love and longing for His power and His glory!

v.3  May your footprints be at a standstill everywhere you go!  Footprints that have stopped moving!  Footprints that are standing in awe and praise to God because you are experiencing His loving kindness that is better than life! 

V.4-5  May your footprints become handprints lifted high in praises as you bless the Name of  The Lord!  May every detail of your life reflect your satisfaction in the LORD.  May you recognize people, movies, songs, pictures, time, social media, “likes”, self-centered thinking, and other desires that do not reflect a satisfaction in the Lord but rather a desire to satisfy self!  A desire to be affirmed or applauded by others.

V.6 May our footprints lead us to our resting place and may you be found remembering the Lord in your day.  May you meditate on Him and His Word.  Think deep, think long, conquer the battle of mind wondering.  Win the battle of thinking about people, places, things, drama, etc and be captivated by dwelling on the Lord!  If you find yourself constantly upset at a person or situation, often you need to forgive that person and even go talk to them.  Don’t let that person steal precious time of meditating on the LORD.

V.7  May your footprints find you experiencing God’s help.  But where would that be?  Where is the “Shadow of His wings?”  Think about it………ponder.  His shadow is right next to Him!  When you and I deal with all our sin, and run to Him declaring “You are my God” we can find ourselves in His Shadow beneath His wings!  The challenge is, do the words of our lips agree with what we really want?  “You are my God” is a declaration that we want God to be the supreme authority of every detail of our lives!  We are declaring that we want Him to have the say so (from His Word) to our every thought and decision!  We are declaring that He has the freedom to reveal any area of our lives that we are NOT allowing Him to be the “God” of!  Is there an area of your life that’s all about you?  Is there an area that you say “well that’s just how I am……compared to ________   _________ I’m doing a lot better….. etc)  Our flesh can find unlimited excuses to justify why we are doing what we are doing or thinking the way we are thinking.  We can even convince ourselves that it’s not really sin.  But if we ignore these areas of our lives, can we really  declare “You are my God” and mean it?  Can we still find ourselves REJOICING (experiencing God’s JOY) in the Shadow of His wings????  Read verse 7 again.  Can my sin dwell in the presence of God?  Wouldn’t it be easier to give it all to Him and declare Him the God of every detail of our lives and yearn for Him to reveal any darkness He sees so we can be cleansed!?

V.8  Then as God moves, may our footprints move and FOLLOW close behind Him upheld by His strength that never grows weary!

Ahhh, what a set of Footprints worth following!