Little Victories
“Little Victories”
August 30, 2022
He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 25:8 (ESV)
It’s been a long time since I’ve been out walking. It’s been foggy in the mornings, and I don’t like to walk on our curvy mountain road when it’s difficult to see. But to be honest, I haven’t really felt much like walking. It’s been four months to the day since Remi passed away, and I’m still getting used to walking without him. When I woke up today, it was a beautiful morning; the gentle onshore breeze swept the cool, salty air of the ocean past me when I stepped out on our patio, and the sun was rising over the mountains, so I decided today would be a good day to start walking again.
As I walked the route Remi and I usually took, I rounded one of the curves and felt my eyes welling up with tears. I had come to an area where Remi liked to stop and sniff, and those memories triggered a wave of emotion that came over me. I thought, “Take one step at a time, put one foot in front of the other and just keep going.” I happened to be listening to my audio devotion at the time, and the narrator was reading Isaiah 25:8. I heard, “and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces”. I was amazed at the timeliness of his words. The other words in the passage drifted by, but those words really stuck with me. The narrator asked us to imagine God holding our face in his hands and to feel him gently wiping away our tears. It was a powerful image I visualized as I reached up under my glasses to brush away the tears that had spilled over and continued moving forward - left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot.
I continued my walk, looking expectantly for new sights and new inspirations to write about, but none came. I walked in silence for a mile, scanning the nature around me, hoping I would hear, “Look at that!” as I often have in the past, but the silence continued. I listened to another audio devotion to accompany me on my last mile, and as I neared our home, I felt a little disappointed that nothing had come to me today. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw these little yellow tubular flowers that looked like tiny trumpets. I walked past them at first, but turned back to take a photo when I heard a title come to me, “Little Victories”.
What a wonderful sight to see at the end of my three mile walk - my disappointment fleeing. These little flowers came into sight as if they were trumpeting my victory - you completed the walk, filled with emotions and all! You did it! Yay! Sound silly? Maybe, but I can’t help but think about all the times the Lord watches over us and celebrates the little victories in our life that we often overlook. He sees the struggles we have in front of us to overcome and watches us trying to tackle them little by little, day by day. Do you have things in your life you are trying to deal with? Maybe it’s working through a loss you’ve had, the frustration of battling weight loss, managing health challenges, facing overwhelming schedules, transitions, an uncertain future, or changes in your life? I encourage you to face your situation one step at a time - putting one foot in front of the other - and you will move forward.
May you honor each small step you take to address the challenge ahead, and let yourself celebrate your tiniest victory. Our Lord will wipe away our tears of grief, pain, heartache, fear, and disappointment as we face our challenges. Be encouraged to know he is there to walk with us, to encourage us, and to celebrate with us as we win each little victory.
