Just Take the Next Step

I heard a quote the other day: “Relationships are a series of steps and you can only take the next step.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about this. In regards to relationships, as well as in regards to the rest of life.

I find that I often want to solve a problem immediately and completely. Please, Lord, give me the shortcut!

I want the relationship fixed or the issue resolved right away. I want to move past the hurt and the pain and the work and the effort parts and get to the solutions and the rewards.

But there are a few reasons why we shouldn’t hurry the process, aren’t there?

(The following are in no particular order.)

First: We learn and grow in the process. If we skipped right to the happy ending and avoid the hard things, we miss out on becoming more like Jesus and learning to think eternally.

Second: The process is a vivid reminder that we live in a fallen world. This world is not our home. These things serve to weaken our grip on the things of this life and to think instead on “things above”.

Third: These things teach us about ourselves. They show us vividly that we are a sinner in need of a Savior. If we are honest with ourselves, then God will reveal blind spots and personal sins as we seek to heal a relationship or resolve a difficult situation. We are usually not just an innocent bystander. Our sin and flesh have often contributed to the problem. We need a Savior and these things reveal that to us in a very real way.

Fourth: We realize God’s deep love for us in His small mercies and little kindnesses along the way. We cannot comprehend the depth of His care until we see the answers to the small prayers we pray and the little mercies that are given to us that we never even thought to pray for!

Fifth: These unresolved and insurmountable difficulties teach us to bow our knee and to surrender our will to God’s will. They teach us that we are not in control, after all. And they teach us to stop trusting ourselves and to trust instead in the Lord—day by day and with each passing moment. I have to think of one of my favorite hymns “Day by Day” as I reflect on learning to trust (see lyrics below).

And Sixth: Along with trusting, these things teach us to pray. Prayer is a gift from God and so often we don’t use this gift as we should. But when we are walking through something very difficult and puzzling, we grab hold of it more tightly and make better use of this wonderful gift God has given us as we journey through life here. Trials help us understand the value and the necessity of prayer in our lives.

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There is coming a day when we will no longer have to learn anything. We will be in a perfect place with no sin, no sickness, no hatred, and no conflict. There will be no world to battle, no flesh to deny, and no demonic enemy to stand against.

Until that day, God is using the seemingly unresolvable situations and the difficult relationships of this life to teach us so much.

Rather than searching desperately for an escape or shortcut, may we simply take the next step that the Lord has revealed to us.

With faith in God, may we simply take the small step and trust the Lord for the ending.

And, while we don’t always have happy endings here on earth, we can be assured that a happy eternity is coming for all of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus as our Savior.

DAY BY DAY

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation,
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till with Christ the Lord I stand.