Just take the next step…
As a father, I have noticed, that the weight of the responsibilities of the roles I fill – man, husband and father – are a bit like a swirling hurricane. Almost, too big to comprehend.
While on my run this morning something changed for me. I have always been a thinker, an idea guy, a guy looking at the whole sum of a thing’s parts. I often ponder, what is the big picture, what is the end game, where are we going, what are we doing, why?
Back to today. Picture a big man running. Bigger, faster… no, a little bigger, a lot slower. OK, maybe this is easier – think about your garage fridge doing about 6 mph down the neighborhood road at 5am. The fact that I am running again is both a testament to new beginnings and the awesome and unfathomable power of God.
You can start anything you want, whenever you want. Yes, there will be negative consequences – like pain and near fainting for 30 minutes afterwards – but there is also positive consequences – personal pride, satisfaction and a little wonderment. So if there is something you are pondering (like me), just take the next step.
You see, we ponder, we plan, we debate, we doubt and rehash. What we often fail to remember is that God can do anything inside us and out. We simply need to ask…
… ask the right questions and do the work.
In this season of life I have been asking for God to show me the “way,” to shed light onto the path to share with me the vision for my next steps. Today I simply asked, help me finish this run. Holy smokes did I get tempted right then to stop and walk. But I kept going, knowing that 3.1 miles is not an eternity. When my large creaky frame neared the 2 mile mark, I swear, I may have been taking a 12 inch stride and my feet lurched as if they were tree stumps uprooting and replanting with each step. But, I asked again, help me finish this run.
Now God isn’t going to come down and pick me up on his golf cart and take me home… I have to do the work. But so much of this wild life seems to be in our minds. We have to learn to tame the thoughts and desires that pop up and derail us from our long game plans.
A great golfer once said, “Golf is a game of inches. The most important are the six inches between your ears.” – Arnold Palmer
A great general once said, “the most important 6 inches on the battlefield is between your ears,” Gen. James Mattis.
So, today, I asked God to help me finish this run; and I did, I just had to keep taking the next step.
Don’t over think it, just take the NEXT step.