Just take the next right step.
With my Master’s Degree wrapping up next summer, it feels like another big life change is just around the corner for me. That means that I, like all of us from time to time, am in a season of probing my life for what is my ‘calling,’ or purpose, or meaning, or eudaimonia. I’m asking the big questions as I look forward to this upcoming seismic shift.
But then I step back and ask, is the pressure to find a ‘calling’ from God or from our culture?
Could Jesus care more about how we treat the barista, how wise and self-controlled we are in our relationships, our habits, or our day-to-day lives than our vibrant, over-arching goals and aspirations?
Perhaps the idea of a calling could even overshadow the need for small day-in, day-out obedience. Not that this is the only factor, but isn’t that what has happened with so many of the celebrity pastors who fell from grace? They answered the call to the bigness of their platform but overlooked the small, daily acts of obedience which shape a life and impact those nearest to us.
Founding president of Denver Seminary Vernon Grounds said, “The ruts of routine become the grooves of grace.”
Are we practicing the daily minutiae that will ultimately point us toward God in the long run? Or do we just expect Him to show up for the big events and we can keep the reins the rest of the time?
Maybe ‘God’s plan’ is for Him to know.
Maybe that’s why it’s called….God’s plan.
All we have to know is where the next step lands. And if we are faithful with each footfall, we will surely end up in the right place.
We may not know God’s ‘plan for our life,’ but I’d wager that we could figure out God’s desire for this thing right here in front of me right now.
Kinda like dieting and fitness: don’t get overwhelmed by thinking, How do I overhaul my entire body? Instead, look at what’s right in front of you — should you reach for the apple or the ice cream? I wonder if I should cut down on soda in order to become healthier? Do you think I should run more and sit on the couch less?
We know the answer when it’s put like that. So what if we became more aware throughout our days and could ask smaller questions, instead of stressing about the big ones —
Does he want me to be kind to your waiter?
Should I pressure this person to do the thing I want to do right now?
Would it be wise to take a few more shots?
Even more innocuous things like, Will lying in bed another hour, scrolling on Instagram benefit my spiritual formation?
Maybe relegating what we are supposed to do with our lives to some abstract destination further up the road allows us to avoid being faithful, obedient, and wise in the present.
We talk about things in the Bible like the call of Abraham, as if he knew what his calling would be for his whole life. In reality, God ‘called’ Abraham when he was 85. Moses was called when he was 80. And even then, they didn’t know where exactly they were going, just that they had to start moving.
They had to take that first step in a certain direction.
And maybe that’s all you need to do now too: take one step in the right direction. Then another.
Then another.
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