Take The Next Step

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By Lisa Robertson

Some days, I feel so overwhelmed; too many people, emails, appointments, commitments and obligations.  There are mornings that I feel like a failure, even before I even before I get out of bed.  Frustration and burdens fill my heart and mind as I realize that I can’t do it all.  More importantly, I can’t do it all well.

Life is too much fun to live that way.  Over the years, there is one lesson that keeps returning to me. 

“Take the next step” and/or “take one step at a time.”  This is so simple and so profound.

My tendency is to make a To-Do list for a day that will actually take me at least a week of concentrated effort to accomplish.  By listing everything that I haven’t done in months, with everything that I want to do and then adding everything that I have to do, I am setting myself up to fail, and I do fail.  This isn’t good for me or anyone else who is around me.

In an overwhelmed state, I lose my focus and vision.   Debilitated and paralyzed, the result is I get nothing done.  Confidence and direction evaporate, and my Pollyanna personality goes down the tubes. 

“Take the next step” is life changing because it helps me to focus on what is right in front of me; nothing more and nothing less.  Not only can I take the next step, but I almost always now exactly what the next step is.  I may not know what the third or forth step is, I don’t need to.  I usually know the next step and it is one that I can take.

Would it surprise you if I told you that the Bible talks about this?

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit”  Galatians 5:25

 To me it says that if I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me, I need to be watching and following where he is leading me.  Not only that, I need to keep up and not dawdle.  The picture that comes mind is me trying to follow my father’s big steps in fresh snow; or my children following my steps in the sand at the beach.

Psalm 17:5  “My steps are set firmly on your paths; my feet haven’t slipped.” CEB

1 Corinthians 9:26—“So I run with purpose in every step.” NLT

Psalm 26:3—“So I never lose sight of your love, But keep in step with you, never missing a beat.”

Psalm 121:3--"He will not let you stumble..."  NLT

Firm steps, running steps consistent steps are the result of taking the next step.How great to know that  God is with us on this journey. 

“Take the next step” is so manageable.  When we are learning to walk with God, it is the best way for our success.  What could be better than that?

Just for a week, or even a day, try to focus and take just the next step.