March 7th, 2010 
Dana Fisher Now they sin more and more; ~Hosea 13:2
Over the past couple of weeks I have been working in Boston for a company near the Garden. While I do feel blessed to have a job in this economy, I also hate getting up that early to do something I don’t feel benefits the kingdom of God in any respect.
Early Thursday morning, after rolling out of bed at 5am I began my trek to the train station in the center of town. There was a fresh coat of snow on the ground and it continued to fall from the sky. I threw on my jacket and pulled my hat down over my head.
As is generally the case when I’m alone with my thoughts, I had an epiphany.
About halfway to the train station I realized I had been following earlier footsteps in the snow. Some were freshly stomped, as clear as day. Their impressions were pushed down to the black pavement below. Others had a dusting of white snow beginning to shade their direction.
As a continued to walk I noticed that my paces were longer than those already pressed in to the snow. I’m a tall guy and wrote it off as my legs being longer than those who walked before me. The shoe size seemed to be the same though… Scuffs had marked some of the steps ahead of me and it clicked in my head. They were tired. The steps were beginning to shuffle along rather than being fully picked up; They were losing momentum.
We make it far to easy for Satan to track us. We plod along and our sin makes the next temptation that much easier to succumb to. Following those deep impressions in the snow was very easy. I didn’t need to be right behind the person to know where they were headed. The Bible says Satan prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. A lion does not make himself known to his prey but sneaks behind it’s prey, pouncing when they least expect it
Hebrews 12:1 says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” We have a tendency to get tired. We’re only human. And in our weakness we begin shuffling our feet and stumbling around. Our run becomes a jog and then a walk, until finally we’re stopped. A lion searching for prey doesn’t attack the strong gazelle at the head of the pack but finds that wounded straggler on the outskirts who has seemingly given up.
How much easier than for Satan to attack when he sees us shuffling our feet? It’s one thing to stumble, but when we do and refuse to turn to Jesus for help our stride becomes shorter, our shoulders sag, and our feet begin shuffling underneath us.
Repent and seek the Lord in your time of need. When your run becomes a walk seek His face. “wash me, and I will be whiter than snow”(Psalm 51:7). Just like those steps in the snow, Jesus covers us with his grace, hiding our footsteps and washing us whiter than snow. The longer that snow came falling gently on the footsteps the harder it was to see them and follow them.
It seems like such a simple concept. Ask and you will find him(Matthew 7:8). But I struggle with it daily. I want to rely on my own ability to get out of a situation and in turn push my steps farther into the snow. I’m in a funk and I justify it by saying “I don’t know how to get out of it.” The truth of the matter is, I do, I just choose not to.
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