The Next Step
Happy New Year!
I’ve never been one to make New Year’s resolutions. In my own personal experience and observations, it seems as if by February or March all the resolutions we’ve made have fallen by the wayside, leaving us feeling defeated so soon after making our to-do lists for the new year. But if you are a New Year’s resolution girl…awesome! And if you actually stick to those resolutions the entire year…even better! I may not be a New Year’s resolution girl but I am a “What is the next step in my life that I need to be faithful with?” girl!
Perhaps you are too! What can I do better this year than I did last year? What’s one thing can I improve on? What area in my life needs some extra attention in this new year? How can I reset my life in some specific ways to make this new year the best one yet? What lessons have I learned in the past year that I need to carry into the new year?“What is the next step for me?” is far less intimidating and certainly more attainable than “What are the 20 things I’m going to change in my life over this next year?”There’s a verse in Psalms that speaks directly to my point and brings my heart such great hope and encouragement:
“The Lord directs the STEPS of the godly. He delights in EVERY detail of their lives.” (Psalms 37: 23 NLT)
God promises to direct our NEXT STEP. He doesn’t say the next mile, or the next week, next month, or the next year… just THE NEXT STEP. Because TODAY is the only thing we have given to us. Our next week, next month, next year, etc. is not promised to us. Just TODAY. Just our next step.And as we take our next step, God’s promise to us as believers is to direct whatever our step may look like. He even goes on to assure us that He takes “DELIGHT in every detail of our lives”! How awesome is that?!
Every single detail of our life matters to Him and every single step we take is directed by Him.
What if we entered into this new year with that promise of God’s Word EMBEDDED in our hearts and believed and lived it as if it were true? How would this new year look different from all the other years?
Our Heavenly Father promises to DIRECT our steps and to DELIGHT in every single detail of our lives! What a glorious, encouraging, life-giving promise that is!
Allow me to be very candid with you for a moment. I want to share with you what I know my next step is for this new year: I want to be STRONG in my body, my soul, and my spirit! While most people who know me would look at me and say that I am a strong woman, there is one of area in my life that I have not been strong in...my body. I do feel strong in my soul (my emotional health) and strong in my spirit (my spiritual health), but I have been very weak in my body (my physical health) for quite some time.
For those of you that know me or have read my devotionals or social media, you will remember me speaking about the years of pain and trouble I’ve had with my knees. From past surgeries and sports injuries when I was young, I have had one knee in particular that had gotten almost crippled. My quality of life was that of a very old woman (that’s an actual quote from my doctor :)) and all I’ve been able to do for the past many years is just simply walk. And towards the end, just putting one foot in front of the other was a challenge because of the chronic pain I was in.
I have been physically active my entire life, so these past several years have been so discouraging because my once active lifestyle was just a thing of my past. Until four weeks ago…The first week of December, I had a total knee replacement. A surgery that most people don’t have until they are 70 years old or older. But because my knee was so bad, we (including my doctor) decided to have the surgery now rather than later so I could reclaim my quality of life back! The surgery went great, and I am now in a season of recovery and rehabilitation.
This season will last a while as this was a very major surgery. But I am more hopeful than I have been in a long time… there will come a point where I can once again reclaim my active lifestyle and my body can be strong again! Praise Jesus! So, my next step this new year is to be STRONG in my body. To work hard in my recovery and rehabilitation and to regain an active quality of life that I’ve only dreamed of these last several years.God has been so close to me through this entire ordeal.
I’ve felt His presence and His reassurance of better days in such a real way. And I am so very grateful! I am more convinced than ever that He truly “DELIGHTS in every single detail” of my life… even my knee!What about you? What does your next step need to be? What does it need to look like? Let’s stop looking for the next mile or the next six months and just look at your next step. Do you need to strengthen yourself spiritually? Emotionally? Or like me, physically? Then take your NEXT STEP. Whatever it is.
God promises to direct your step and to delight in every detail of your life. Even the smallest, insignificant details that you think no one else even notices, yet God does.
Direct and delight. Two great words to face this new year with. Now go take that next step!