There are days when I find myself feeling stuck because I have a job in front of me, but I don’t completely understand what to do or how to do it. I have also noticed my kids feeling stressed if they don’t understand an assignment at school, even if it is their first introduction to the subject. We live in a world that does not celebrate failure or even give time to figuring something out. We want to show perfection and are afraid to let people know that we are a work in progress. If I am not careful, it overwhelms me and stops me from doing anything at all. There is an old poem that was made famous by a Christian missionary and writer, Elisabeth Elliot called “Do The Next Thing.” She made this a phrase she lived by and people all over the world have been encouraged by it.
“Do it immediately, do it with prayer, do it reliantly, casting all care. Do it with reverence, tracing His hand, who placed it before thee with earnest command. Stayed on omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing, leave all resultings, DO THE NEXT THING.”
Does this sound familiar to you? There are dreams in our heart or even simple mundane tasks that paralyze us because we can’t see the full picture. Here we are reminded that all we have to do is take the next step and be obedient with what is in front of us. Following the ways of Jesus is a series of doing the next thing until we have lived a life full of these steps to what God has called us to do. Psalm 37:3 says, “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” Our job is obedience. The life that yields the most, yields the most. I challenge you when you find yourself in a similar circumstance to “do the next thing” that God is asking you to do. He can be trusted and will show us the way with each step.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
Colossians 3:23-24
