Present with God: in my Steps

"If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." -Galatians 5:25

Walking in the spirit has nothing to do with the destination and everything to do with the next step.

Follow the leader is a simple concept. You go where the leader goes. If the leader steps, then you step. If the leader stops, then you stop. It’s extremely easy to do until you get distracted or start to focus on the destination. When we stop focusing on our connection to God's spirit or we start worrying about where we are going, we begin to drift and get out of step.

Just before this verse, Paul has listed the characteristics that identify someone who is in step with the spirit.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...”

To consistently live out these spirit-inspired traits requires both mindfulness and a commitment to focus on the present. These attributes aren't things we plan. In short, they aren’t destinations they are steps.

God calls us to a present faithfulness that lives out these characteristics at the moment we are in right now. When we are present with God, we are released from the need to worry about the destination and can live fully in the moment we are in. We can let go of the games and deceptions and manipulations, and can simply take the next step where the Spirit leads.

Faithfulness to God‘s leading is not something you can program or plan. It is a present decision made here and now in tiny opportunities and baby steps.

Be Present with God

Make some time to be present with God. Focus on the attributes of the life in step with the spirit that Paul lists. Take some time to sit with those words and make yourself attentive to how your soul reacts to them. Ask God to clear away distractions and to make you mindfully aware of the next right step to live out those spirit-fruits. Thank him for the way he has made you aware of his presence in this time.