“I think I just need to focus on the book. That’s step one.
Then I can figure out the next one.” I spoke to my friend Barb, but God himself
may as well have spoken. Even before her response, “You’re old enough in the Lord
to know he gives us a step at a time,” I heard him.
In the last six weeks, I have been draining energy from my memoir
work by pondering the shape of future ministry. The psalmist says, “Your word
is a lamp to my feet.” (119:105, NIV) The oil lamps of the psalmist’s day only
lit the next step.
Don’t you want to know more than the next step? I sure do.
Maybe you’re not trying to determine future ministry, but you’d like to know the
whole passage out of a financial hole. Or you wish you knew three steps to help
your daughter out of drug abuse. If you’re a mother of preschoolers, wouldn’t
you like to know their future?
Couldn’t we prepare better if we knew more of the way ahead?
But that doesn’t seem to be God’s concern. His concern is teaching us to trust
his day-to-day leading. He gives us just enough light for the step we are on. I
know I need to stop peering anxiously into the darkness and immerse myself in
the immediate light.
Jesus, please help us keep our eyes on the step we are on.