READ: DEUTERONOMY 31:8; MATTHEW 6:25-34; JOHN 10:3-5

I was 24 years old, and I was bawling. I sat halfway down a mountain slope, one ski at my feet and the other several yards uphill where it had landed when I’d crashed. I had actually chosen this area of snow to land on, as leaping into a snowbank in order to stop had seemed less frightening than continuing to hurtle down the mountain. I was overwhelmed, soaked with wet snow, and quite done with skiing. Unfortunately, I realized there was no way to reach the bottom of the hill without continuing down it.

Suddenly I heard a familiar voice and looked up to see my dad, who had followed me and watched me crash. He dropped my escaped ski beside me and helped me put them both on again. This time, he promised, he was going to show me something different, rather than the pizza-shaped ski formation I’d learned that morning—which had apparently failed me in my hour of need (I found out later I’d pulled a muscle). He directed me to angle my skis perpendicular to the mountain and go very, very slowly across the snow, turning sharply to keep the position.

“Don’t look down the mountain,” he advised. “It’ll scare you and you might give up. Just look at the snow right in front of your skis, and follow in my tracks.” As long as I kept this thought firmly in my head—don’t look down; follow his tracks—I found I was alright. I even started having fun.

Since then, overwhelming moments in my life have brought my dad’s words to mind, only now I hear them from the perspective of my Father in heaven. I imagine God saying, “Don’t look too far ahead; it’ll scare you and you might give up. Just follow the tracks I’m placing right in front of you. We’ll make it down together—I promise.” • Kathryn Venegas

• God wants to help us follow Him, and often He calls us to just focus on the very next step of today—not the next five, just the next one! He leads and guides us through His Holy Spirit, His Word (the Bible), and His people (the church). And remember, even when we mess up and crash, Jesus has promised to be with us and help us (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 4:14-16). Consider taking a moment to ask God to help you see where He is leaving tracks for you to follow.

• Who are trusted Christians in your life who can help you discern the next steps God might be inviting you to take in your life, and who can also help you get back up when you fall?

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)