Step By Step

How often do you wish that God’s leading and direction for your life was clearer? If you’re anything like me, you feel that way most of the time!

I often find myself asking God to make his will for my life so obvious that I couldn’t possibly miss it. Something like one of those big sky banners pulled by an airplane would be ideal. I’d walk out of my house in the morning, look up, and there it is: “ANSEN, THE ANSWER TO THAT BIG DECISION YOU’RE STRUGGLING WITH IS YES. ALSO YOU LOOK GREAT TODAY. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.”

Unfortunately that’s not usually how it goes. Don’t get me wrong, God is fully capable of directing our path with something huge and unavoidable – perhaps a pillar of flame or a giant fish that swallows you whole. But often God directs our paths one small step at a time. And now that I think about Jonah and that whole fish ordeal, maybe that’s not so unfortunate after all!

Psalm 37:23 says, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.”

With the benefit of hindsight, I can look back on times in my life where I felt lost and directionless and realize that God was at work all along. He showed me one small thing, then another, and then another. Probably because that’s all I could handle at the time! But when added together, all of those individual steps added up to something truly wonderful.

What a glorious reassurance it is to hear that God delights in us and in the minute details of our lives. If my next step isn’t too small for God, then it’s not too small for me either.

Let’s remember to listen for and act on the small things in life that God places on our hearts. If we’re faithful to take things one step at a time, we can trust that God will be faithful to weave those small steps into one beautiful big picture.