Even Ground
By Elin Henderson
“But as for me, I will walk in my integrity….My foot stands in an even place…”
Psalms 26:11a, 12a (NKJV)
A few years back, the ladies in my village talked me into making a trek with them out to a coastal village about 7 kilometers away. To say this place is isolated is no exaggeration: There’s a huge swamp between it and any land villages, and the sea comprises its other boundaries. About three-quarters of the year it is almost inaccessible, except to those who are willing to wade through mud and water up to their waist to get there. After the rains have subsided, the swamp begins to drain and dry out, which leaves kilometer after kilometer of cracked and broken landscape. It was at this time of year that the ladies arranged our hike.
We set out early in the morning and after descending the ridge we live on, we entered into this “valley of the shadow of mud,” as I call it!! Have you ever walked on uneven ground for hour upon hour? Well, let me tell you, you will find out that there are a lot of muscles that you don’t know about which are needed for walking on uneven ground. After two solid hours, we arrived and visited with folks there (shocking them to death as most of the women and children had never seen a white woman before), then made the grueling trek back home. I didn’t feel it so much that day - - but I could hardly walk or move for the three days that followed!
Walking on uneven ground can be tiring and difficult. What kinds of things make ground uneven? Rocks, splits, cracks, holes…the list goes on. In Psalm 26, David reveals his vulnerability and willingness to be transparent before the Lord. He’s saying, “I want the ground around me to be clear and even.” When we have things cluttering up our ground, entering in and eroding it, all of the sudden, walking becomes a lot more work! But, when we openly and honestly deal with the clutter - - the rocks, the holes, etc. - - and say, “God, clear, clean, and even me up,” then comes freedom, rest and stability.
What is your ground like? How even is it? Are you allowing things to clutter it up or erode it? Or are you, like David, saying, “My foot stands in an even place”? Transparency is not easy - - clearing land never is - - but the results are freeing and healing to those willing to put in the effort. Today, may you find yourself on even ground, walking in integrity, standing on the truth!
GOING DEEPER:
1. What are some things that keep us from wanting to clear up our uneven ground? Ask God for the “want to.”
FURTHER READING:
Psalm 7:8; Psalm 26; Psalm 139:23-24; Proverbs 4:12
Oakwood’s missionaries Elin Henderson and her husband Phil serve as church planters with New Tribes in Mozambique, Africa. Elin is mother to eleven-year-old Callie and eight-year-old Elias.
