First Steps
I’m so excited about today! I’ve asked a very special guest to write this week’s devotional! I have been feeling a real challenge from God lately to speak to & encourage our young women leaders to rise up and begin to use their voice and influence for this younger generation of women.
Today’s devotional is the result of one of those conversations & a HUGE step of faith from this young woman.
Please take the time to read this & pass it along to those women in your life that could use some encouragement too! And let this new writer know how this speaks to your heart!
Why is it that the first steps toward something are always the hardest? Waking up that first morning after finally deciding to work out is THE HARDEST. That first workout is definitely THE HARDEST. Starting that first day at a new school or a new job is THE HARDEST. Getting up the courage to put yourself out there by writing your first blog is THE HARDEST. 🙈For me, that first step means moving towards something new and unfamiliar. And I do not like change! Once I decide how I like something, I am perfectly fine keeping it that way until the end of time! My house is set up just the way I like it and I don’t care to change it. Now it may take me a little while to decide on how I want it, but once I do, it’s set in stone. My sister, on the other hand, would rearrange the furniture every day if she could! The same can be said for new seasons in my life. I make it a point to have everything together and in order, and just when I have everything exactly the way I like it or have everything planned out (because I’m a planner too) is usually when God’s plan comes in to wreck my own. I have to then make a decision if I want to be in control, holding on to my life or plans so tight that I have no room for anything that God has for me, or if I want to release control and live my life open-handed ready to receive all that He has planned for me. And as I’ve gotten older, it becomes more and more evident that God’s plan ALWAYS far exceeds anything I could have planned or dreamed up for myself.
After we’ve made the decision to obey and commit to doing so, the easier each next step becomes. Still hard… but easier. That second workout still hurts… but a little less. That second day at a new job may still be hard… but a little less. And then before we know it, we’re looking forward to working out or whatever it is in your life that is difficult to start, even that brand new season of life that may feel overwhelming.But just like with working out, that first workout doesn’t mean that you’re going to have the end result that you’re looking for. If only it were that easy! Each workout becomes easier and easier, but you still have to continue to commit to the process. Trusting Him becomes easier with each step. Obeying Him becomes easier with each step. Believing that, in spite of all of our shortcomings, He believes and sees the best in us becomes easier with each step. And before we know it, we’ve become more and more like Jesus than we were before. Just like the “Narrow Gates” Jesus talked about in Matthew 7, following Him isn’t going to be easy. Taking that first step towards whatever God is asking of you isn’t going to be easy. But He did promise that it would be worth it-- the reward being eternal life! And who knows?! You taking your first steps might be the push and encouragement someone else needs to take their first steps! Just like my mom wrote in her devotional “Who's Following You,” there’s always someone watching us. Someone is depending on your obedience!So don’t be afraid to take that first step towards what God is asking of you. You never know what’s on the other side.
Someone taking her first steps, 