One Step at a Time

I met "J" and "K" (see blog post "Iron Sharpens Iron", 08/31/25) and "K"'s daughter on a trail this morning. It's that time of year when the sun doesn't start to make its appearance until around 7 a.m. and we typically meet earlier. The trail path was peaceful and dark. I could only see what my chest light illuminated which was maybe five feet in front of me. I wasn't scared. Maybe because I am familiar with this particular trail or maybe because I had just enough light to get me to the next step and I knew that as I kept going, the light would shine on the next small section of the path to keep me moving forward. I kept going and as I got closer to my van, the sun was starting to rise. It was a beautiful reward.

While I myself am not necessarily a great planner, I do think it is wise to have some sort of idea where you are going in life. I also think that not knowing all the steps beforehand or exactly how you will get there, holds us back from even stepping out in the first place and you know what they say about "the best laid plans." We are afraid of what lies before us in the unknown. I may be accused of not really having goals, which I've even admitted to in other blogs. I'm a go-with-the-flow kind of girl. Maybe because I'm too lazy, maybe because I'm afraid of falling short or maybe, hear me out, because I take one step at a time. There are decisions we are faced with constantly on a daily basis. When confronted with an important one, if there is time, I will definitely pray about it until I feel at peace with a certain choice. However, if it's an important decision that needs to be made right away, I will think through the pros and cons and choose the one that makes the most common sense. I believe that keeps me moving forward one step at a time and in a constant state of trusting God to lead my way. 

There are many stories from the Bible that I could share on this subject, but one I thought of right away was when Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt and they came to what seemed like a dead end as they came face to face with the Red Sea. Pharoah and his army came up behind them as the Israelites were camped as instructed, specifically facing the sea (Exodus 14:2). The Israelites, as usual, blamed Moses, saying to him "Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” Exodus 14:12 (CSB) Moses told them not to be afraid. God said he would harden the hearts of Pharoah and his army, and the Egyptians would know he is the Lord because of what He was about to do. God told Moses to lift up his staff and stretch it out over the sea. If you are familiar with this story, you know what happened next. "Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So, the waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left." Exodus 14:21-22 (CSB) The Israelites crossed the sea safely and when the Egyptian army tried to cross, the waters closed in on them and every one of them were drowned. 

My question is, "Who took the first step in the middle of that wall of water on each side to begin the journey across the sea?" Could you imagine being in their place, not knowing if the water would hold until they crossed, not knowing if the Egyptians would be able to follow them through on dry land. All it took was one step forward to get them to safety. One step at a time and complete faith.