Several years ago, a pastor friend of mine, who also happened to be an electrician, came to do some work for me. I had a small tool shed close to the back of the house, and he was going to run electricity to it. When it came time to connect to the electric box in the basement, he asked me to go in and throw the breaker.

I had a mid-sized house dog at that time, and if I was gone for a long while and she couldn’t get outside, she would go to the dark side of the basement to potty. It just happened to be that the electric box was located on that side of the basement. Since the main overhead basement light didn’t shine far enough into that dark corner, there was a ceiling light with a pull-chain hanging from it. The chain was a bit short, so I had tied a long cord string to the end of the chain, so one could reach out, feel for the cord and just pull it.

I knew that earlier in the day, the dog had been home alone, and I wondered if she might have gone back there to relieve herself. I walked to the edge of the light, leaned in as far as I could, waved my hand around several times in the darkness, and could not find the string. “Oh rats,” I thought. “Now I’m gonna have to step into the dark to reach that blasted string.” I guess I thought if I took one huge step, I’d have a better chance at avoiding disaster, than if I took two normal-sized steps.

After gingerly placing my foot down, and not feeling anything soft under it, I let out a sigh of relief, located the string, and pulled on the light before bringing my other foot in. As I looked down to see if the floor was clear, there it was… right against the outside of my right foot. It was of good size and relatively fresh, and if I moved one way or another, my shoe would be in it. There I was, stuck in the midst of a huge stride, not knowing whether to bring my left foot in or rock back on it and pull my right foot out!  (Hokey-pokey, anyone?)

Whichever I did, it was a success, and my shoe remained unscathed. I remember thinking what a really messy situation it COULD have been, that was only avoided by a fraction of an inch, and breathed a very heart-felt “Thank you, Lord.” Incredibly, as soon as that little prayer left my lips, the next thing that ran through my mind was… "Don’t you know that 'the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord'?!?" (Psalms 37:23) The very next scene that popped into my brain was the Father and Son sitting side by side on their thrones in Heaven, elbowing each other in the ribs, having a big belly laugh!

And that’s the Gospel Truth!

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Pastor Moser
July 7, 2004