Anyone who has walked with a young child knows there are two ways it goes wrong. Either the child races ahead to the corner and you are shouting at them to stop before the road, or they lag behind, stopping at every lizard and bottle top, and you end up half-dragging them home. What you want, and rarely get, is a small hand in yours and two sets of feet moving at the same pace.
The Bible’s shortest biography says of Enoch simply that he “walked with God” (Genesis 5:24). Not after God, dragging his feet. Not ahead of God, making his own way and hoping to be caught up with. With Him. It is a picture of pace as much as direction, and it has something to say to anyone facing a big decision about land or a house.
The ones who run ahead
Some of us are corner-runners by nature. We see a lot advertised on a Friday and have put down a deposit by Tuesday. We hear from a cousin that land is going cheap in the next parish and start sending money before anyone has walked the boundary. We sign with a contractor because he is available and friendly, and pray about it once the foundation is dug.
Often we do it in God’s name. We have prayed for a house for years, so surely this is the answer. We say, and mean it, that the home will be used for His glory. But there is a difference between making plans for God and making plans with Him. “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9, NKJV). When we run ahead, we leave Him no room to direct anything. We simply ask Him to endorse what we have already done.
The results are familiar. Land bought without a proper title search. A house with a structural problem nobody inspected. A mortgage stretched to the limit because we were afraid of losing the place. Not every rushed decision ends badly, but many end in a kind of low, persistent regret.
The ones who hang back
Others of us are lizard-watchers. We have been “praying about” buying for seven years. We have viewed thirty houses and found a reason to reject every one. We have the deposit saved but cannot bring ourselves to talk to a lender. We call it waiting on the Lord, and sometimes it is. Sometimes, though, it is fear wearing a spiritual coat.
Hanging back has its own costs. Opportunities pass. Rent goes on being paid. Family members grow tired of hearing that we are “nearly ready”. And our faith, which was supposed to make us bold, has somehow made us timid.
What walking with looks like
The prophet Amos asks a question that fits here: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3, KJV). Walking with someone requires constant small adjustments. You speed up a little, they slow down a little. You talk as you go. You notice when the other person turns.
In a property decision, that tends to look like a few ordinary habits:
- Praying before the viewing, not only after. Asking not just “let me get this one” but “show me what I need to see”.
- Doing the homework as an act of faith. The title search, the surveyor, the inspection and the honest budget are not signs of doubt. They are ways of listening.
- Setting a pace you can explain. If you cannot say why you need to decide by Friday, you may be running ahead. If you cannot say what you are still waiting for, you may be hanging back.
- Inviting counsel. A spouse, a trusted older believer, an attorney. People walking beside you often notice when you have drifted ahead or fallen behind before you do.
- Being willing to turn. Walking with God sometimes means walking away from a house you loved, or walking towards one you had dismissed.
A small illustration
Consider a couple who find a lot they love on a hillside with a view of the sea. The husband wants to buy it that week. The wife is unsure. Instead of either pushing or refusing, they agree on three things before deciding: they will ask a surveyor to walk the land, they will visit after heavy rain to see where the water goes, and they will each pray about it separately for a fortnight and then compare notes.
Perhaps the surveyor finds a problem, and they walk away grateful. Perhaps everything checks out and they buy with a settled peace. Either way, they have made the decision together, and with God, rather than in a rush or a panic. That is the difference Enoch’s walk points to.
The pace of a lifetime
Enoch’s walk was not one outing but a whole life. Most of us will make only a handful of big property decisions: a first rental, perhaps a first home, a piece of family land, a move in old age. Each one is a chance to practise the same pace. Not racing to the corner, not dawdling at every distraction, but a hand in His, and two sets of feet moving together.
If you are facing a decision like that today, it may be worth asking one honest question before anything else: am I ahead of God on this, behind Him, or beside Him?
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