Ten thousand.

Ten thousand steps.  That’s how many steps a healthy adult should be taking each day.  At least that’s what my doctor told me.  And when she asked me if I was doing that, my reply was cautiously…um, negative.

Who am I kidding?  I hadn’t been counting, but I was quite sure that 10,000 steps were not a part of my daily routine.  Wouldn’t that be the equivalent of me walking from West Palm Beach to, say, Orlando?  Maybe I’m exaggerating, but still.  That’s a lot of steps.

So I bought myself a pedometer.  And it turns out I’m walking a whole lot more than I thought I was.  Without even trying, I found out that my normal workday includes about 5,000 steps.  Who knew?  Now I’m trying to figure out ways to add to that.  My pedometer actually does a little celebration flash when I hit a goal.  It’s the little things.

But I’m not the only one counting.

“Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps?”  (Job 31:4)

I’ve read verses before about God ordering our steps, God planning our steps, God watching our steps.  But now that I’m counting them for myself, I’m a whole lot more aware of what that means.  When my step-counting pedometer says I’ve taken 5,533 steps, it means God has been watching every one of them.  He saw where I was at step #143, and step #5129.  Every. Single. Step.

He upheld them.

He directed them.

He kept them from slipping.

Of course God is interested in my health and physical activity, but that’s not the main reason He’s watching my steps.  He knows that I need to be on the right path.  He knows that I’m prone to wander, to let my steps take me places that aren’t part of His plan.  He knows about the things that trip me up.  But He also knows that I really do want to be walking with Him in every step of every day.  And He’s using a pedometer to remind me to keep working on that.

I don’t know how many steps I’ll take today.  I’m already at 517.  But God knows.  And I’m glad He’ll be with me. Each step of the way.

Uphold my steps in Your paths,                                                                                             That my footsteps may not slip.  Psalm 17:5

LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. Jeremiah 10:23

If I say, “My foot slips,” Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up.  Psalm 94:18