Do The Next Thing

One evening, very recently, while sitting chatting to my children, there was a sound.  Or perhaps it wasn’t a sound but a sudden sound of nothing.  And then the lights went out!  There we were, sitting on the couch, plunged into sudden darkness!  We waited a while but nothing happened and so I turned on the flashlight on my phone.  How thankful I was in that moment for the incredible mind that put a flashlight on a phone – who’d have thought!  Certainly not me.  My little flashlight didn’t light up the whole house, but it was enough for me to search for candles and other sources of light, to which I discovered I was miserably prepared!

My mind went to the scripture, “𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉.”  Psalm 119:150.  There were no lights on cell phones back in Israel 2,000 years ago.  If you were taking a journey at night, you carried a small lamp with a flax wick and a little olive oil and that was enough light to reveal one step at a time.  Enough to keep you from stumbling or tripping over a rock.  Not enough to reveal the destination or even the end of the road. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗯𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽.

When you find yourself in need of direction, the Word of God will guide you.  When you feel as though you are plunged into darkness, God’s Word will illuminate you.  In a world that is dark, with little direction, it is God’s Word, the Word of Truth that will show you the path you should take. 

Elizabeth Elliot, a missionary, and author whose husband was martyred in Ecuador, would always quote a line from an old poem; “𝗗𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.”  It helped her through her grief and was advice she often gave to others helping them through anxiety, depression, and loss.  “𝗗𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.”  It was a phrase that helped me when I was overwhelmed.  It suddenly simplified my life, and I could go to the LORD and ask, “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰?”  And step by step, with God’s Word of Truth and prayer, I could do the next thing and the next.

Today if you are feeling overwhelmed, worried, depressed, or anxious, feel as though your life is flipped upside down and you are in darkness, or even if you need wisdom when facing a tricky situation.  𝗚𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱, 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.  The Bible will bring light to your situation, showing you what to do, God will encourage you and Holy Spirit will guide you every step of the way.  𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.

(By the way, that power cut we had, was caused by a snake getting into a transformer and caused 11,000 people to lose power!  How crazy is that!!)