Stumbling and Bumbling - Devotion for 10/20/08

Stumbling bumbling – Devotion for 10/20/08

Our family has two dogs, Riley and Oscar. Riley is a HUGE Golden Retriever, and Oscar is a little yellow lab mix. These two dogs are indoor pets, and they seem to enjoy the life of luxury, and each night they sleep in the room with us. Oscar has his favorite place (which is under the bed), while Riley sprawls out wherever he desires. This is all well and good until I have to get up in the middle of the night. You see in the middle of the night our room is quite dark. And Riley is quite large. More than once I have found myself desperately reaching out for the bed post as I am falling from having tripped upon that huge dog on the floor. And more than once I have found myself sprawled out on the floor. It’s moments like that that I wish I had the capability of having night vision.

There are a lot of moments like that in my life that sometimes we feel like we are walking in the darkness. Uncertainty clouds our perspective of things, and our vision becomes greatly inhibited. As we make our way through the darkness, we know that there are going to be obstacles in our way, and we just try to shuffle-step our way through. So many times as I am stumbling and bumbling through the darkness of life, I would just wish so bad I could see what was next.

This morning I read Psalm 139 to begin my day. This happens to be one of my favorite Psalms, but I got to thinking about it from the perspective of the author, David. David is one who knew what it was like to be stumbling and bumbling through the darkness before him. As many wonderful and great accomplishments as David had, he also truly expressed a great deal of darkness and despair. I believe he took great comfort and solace that there was One who searched him and knew him. Having fled so many times from his enemies, I think David found sanctuary that there was One who he could not flee from. In verse 12, David states, “Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.” I have to believe that David found great strength that in the midst of his stumbling and bumbling in the darkness, there was One who knew the path. As we find ourselves stumbling and bumbling in the darkness of life, find strength in the fact that there is One who came to pierce the darkness, who helps us to see those difficulties ahead of us, and ways around (or over).