I well recall the season that I learned to downhill ski.

Those who have mastered this skill will identify with my sentiments when I say it was the most difficult battle of the mind that I ever engaged in.

This dreadful battle in my head almost stopped me from continuing with my lessons on the “Bunny Hill”. I knew that the geometry of my equipment would not allow me to fall on my face if I leaned forward. I could fall sideways but the skis wouldn't allow me to fall forward. That was impossible if I was properly in my ski harness.

It took many attempts before I got the hang of it, but I overcame my fears and started to slide down the hill.

I'm so glad my sense of logic prevailed and I accepted the fact I would not fall forward regardless of how much I leaned in the direction I wished to travel. Don't get me wrong though, I fell many times.

I even had what is known as “yard sales” (when my equipment came off and spread over the place). But I always fell to the side where the skis didn't impede my traveling to the ground.

The person who spoke about God guarding her feet was a woman named Hannah. Her name means, “favoured”—and she was. After years of not having a child, God finally granted her a son who grew up to be a great prophet called Samuel, a man of prayer (Psalm 99:6).

Hannah was celebrating her safety as she spoke these words concerning God’s care of His people. She delighted in the idea that God secured her in her life and she was not left in a precarious position.

For some years Hannah had battled with her mind over God’s apparent ignoring of her tragic situation of not being a mother. She prayed earnestly to the Lord but it seemed He did not hear. She wept, lost her appetite and was bitter in her soul (1 Samuel 1:7-10).

Then, when God gave her the desire of her heart (a son) her rejoicing wasn't that she had a son but that God was her protection in life.

He was her Saviour.

What Hannah had (before she had her son) was God, and somehow she had missed the reality of her greatest treasure—which was her God.

We can do the same as we pursue some good thing in life and forget that—if we are one of God’s “saints”—we have what is best already.

The rest is window dressing by comparison.

Is God your most important treasure?

Do you value His presence in your life above everything else?

Does God keep you safe or are you flying solo through life?