How many steps do you walk in a lifetime?
Assuming an average of 7,500 steps per day and a lifespan of 79 years, your step count will total 216,262,500. That’s about 110,000 miles—long enough to walk around the Earth roughly 5 times.*
You know what’s even more amazing? How few times we fall. Think of the tens of thousands of steps we take every week: at work, at home, at the grocery store. Now ask yourself, when was the last time I fell?
But let’s say your lifestyle is much more sedentary. Not much of a walker, you manage only half the average step count. But even then, you’ll rack up enough steps to circle the equator twice!
When Was the Last Time?
I’m not suggesting it doesn’t happen. But for most of us—all glory to God—the falls are few and far between.
This came to me the other day when I was bounding down the stairs to leave the office. Every week, I take dozens of trips up and down those stairs and—to date—all without a major incident. But the way I read the Bible, that’s no accident. That’s the kindness of God.
I’d never given any of this much thought before our first Israel trip with Charlie and Kathy Dyer, who share Psalm 121 over the bus’s loudspeakers. When you gaze out the window at the cliffs and crags that Bible folks routinely navigated every day, hearing Dr. Dyer read this Psalm is soul-riveting.
Verse three is particularly comforting: “He will not allow your foot to slip; He who watches over you will not slumber.”
Many Reasons!
Now here’s where I’m going with all this. It’s a question. When was the last time you thanked God that He kept you from falling on your bottom—or worse—your face?
I’m not ignoring the tumbles that we’ve taken in the past. But statistically speaking, they really are incredibly few and far between. Which means we have many reasons for many expressions of thanks to God.
I’ll stop, lest this becomes a guilt trip. But why not pause now and give God thanks for the tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands?) of steps you’ve taken without falling. And as you do, hear the words to that lovely Psalm again!
He will not allow your foot to slip; He who watches over you will not slumber. Psalm 121:3
*Source: https://www.awpnow.com/main/2019/09/27/fun-fact-friday-steps-over-a-lifetime/
