Dharius Daniels - Walk This Way

Exodus 14:21 says this: Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove back the sea with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. I want to talk from this subject: I know I’m in the right room; I’m at the right church, this Change Church, so I think you’re going to flow with this. I will talk from this subject: Walk This Way.

In 1986, some of you were not born, but a rap group, Run-DMC, performed a cover of a song originally recorded by a rock group called Aerosmith. The title of the track was «Walk This Way.» This song experienced unique, extraordinary, and somewhat ubiquitous success because it simultaneously charted on hip-hop and rock charts. Although this song is not religious in nature or origin, I do believe there’s a message in the music for those of us who are in this space today.

Family, the message I believe that can be taken away from such a classic expression of artistic genius and brilliance is simply this: The way we walk determines the way we live. You see, walking in Scripture is a metaphor for decision-making. The Bible says that the steps of a good man or woman are ordered, orchestrated, and guided by the Lord. That’s powerful, because steps are systematic and sequential patterns of movement that get you from one point to another. Your steps must be systematic, left-right, and they must be sequential, one foot in front of another. If you do it systematically and sequentially, you will end up in places you wouldn’t have otherwise entered, because you’ve made a decision to walk there.

So our steps are our decisions, because God wants to order, guide, lead, and influence our decisions, so we make them systematically and sequentially. When we do that, He allows us to step into places we would not have entered if we didn’t let Him order our steps. And I want to know if I have anyone in this room—are there any authentic and honest individuals here who would say, «You know, I could use a little ordering when it comes to my decision-making»? I could use some influence! Why? Because my requests for assistance in my decision-making are not a declaration of my own incompetence, but a revelation of human limitation. There are some things I don’t know; I can only see today, but I can’t see tomorrow. I can see to the hill, but I can’t see over the hill. I can see to the corner, but I can’t see around the corner. I can see how he or she is acting today, but I can’t see how they are going to act when I put a ring on it.

So I need somebody who knows all things, sees all things, and controls all things to help me make decisions in my today that will help me in my tomorrow. Do I have a witness in the house? I need God to order my steps because I don’t want to gamble with consequential decisions. Am I making sense, family? Yeah! God wants to order our steps, and when we allow Him to order, influence, and orchestrate our steps, we are able to step into seasons and spaces that are not attainable without His influence.

We are often reminded of a dominant metaphor the Scriptures use to describe God: that metaphor is a shepherd. In Psalms 23, David calls Him that. David says, «The Lord is my shepherd.» A shepherd has various roles and responsibilities, but the primary one is to lead. God is the Shepherd who wants to lead us, and I promise you, if you allow Him to lead you, He will lead you to green pastures. How many want green pastures? Yep! It speaks to God’s ability to lead you to spaces and places of satisfaction—not dry grass, not brown grass, but green grass. Satisfaction that reaches beyond the stomach, satisfaction that goes to your soul. When your soul is satisfied, if we allow the Lord to be our Shepherd, He’ll lead us to green pastures.

Listen to this: and to still waters—not turbulent waters, not wavy waters, but still waters. But do you know how God leads us? He leads us by influencing our decisions. This is important; it is imperative to living life as God intended. I cannot change my seasons until I change my decisions. Every decision is pregnant with the potential to produce a season. A season-altering decision awaits every single person in this place and space, and God wants to lead our lives by influencing our decisions.

I believe He does so, in the words of Run-DMC, by telling us: «Walk this way.» Why would He say, «Walk this way,» unless there are other ways to walk? When He says «walk this way,» it is the equivalent of Him saying, «Allow Me to be the dominant influence when it comes to the decisions that you make.» There will be other influences, but when you are influenced by anything else—last week we talked about feelings—evaluate them, and then determine whether or not you need to allow Me to overrule them. He says «walk this way» because there are other ways to walk, and we might be tempted to walk those other ways, deceived into walking those other ways. We are warned against this by the writer of Proverbs in…