I’ve written before about next steps and our journey heavenward. About the race, the path, the pilgrimage. About perseverance, that we need to keep going.

Sometimes the goal, the big picture, the finish line can be overwhelming. I can feel frozen, stuck, numb. I forget that there’s a simple next step to take. One foot in front of the other.

We all have a next right step to take on this road to eternity.

Sometimes we just need to start somewhere.

On Thanksgiving morning, before I got out of bed, I started making a list of all the things I had to do. Soon enough my plate was overflowing. How in the world was I going to get this feast on the table in time for my family?

Start somewhere.

I thought of God creating woman. I thought about Noah building the ark. They had to start somewhere. God had a rib from Adam. Noah had a piece of wood.

I picked bacon, and got started.

When we lack in momentum and motivation, we just need to start somewhere. We need to figure out our next step and take it.

I love this passage of Scripture from Romans 5:1-11 in The Message…

“By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit.

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!”

This life is a journey, a process, a race, a walk, an adventure of receiving this amazing friendship with God. We need perspective to see the big picture… this life is but a breath, a flash, a brushstroke in the grand scheme of things. But this life is also made up of choices, progress, putting one foot in front of the other – a string of next steps. Of throwing open our doors to God, to find that God has already thrown open His door to us.

As my pastor often says, you are not God’s project; you are His masterpiece. You don’t have to do a thing to earn His love. He’s already loved us so much that He sent His Son to save us, to redeem us so that we can spend this life AND eternity with Him. We have it all together with God because of Jesus – and we enter in by faith into this beautiful plan of redemption: when we were at our worst, God offered His best to set us right with Him, to make us fit for Him.

But He doesn’t stop there. He loves us too much to leave us in our current state – He created us in His image and wants us to reflect His character, to grow, to mature, to draw near to Him. He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day Jesus returns. It’s a glorious partnership – there are things He’s put inside each one of us, and He’s calling us to be brave, to walk by faith, to do the next right thing.

Maybe it’s embracing grace and believing that Jesus died and rose again to make a way for you to know God. Maybe it’s going public with your faith by getting baptized. Maybe it’s committing to be at your local church every Sunday. Maybe your next step is to begin tithing. Maybe it’s praying daily. Maybe it’s finding out what God says in His Word about His character. Maybe it’s taking better care of your body. Maybe it’s inviting your neighbor to church. Maybe it’s forgiving a family member. Maybe it’s joining a volunteer team. Maybe it’s encouraging someone at work. Maybe it’s connecting with someone God puts in your life – hearing their story and sharing yours.

I can’t tell you what your next step is. But I can tell you it’s not just about the external, the visible, what is seen by others. I’m learning that the being is more important than the doing. It’s about the fruit of a heart transformed and a life forever changed. It’s about receiving God’s love and pouring it out. It’s about pointing to God and bringing glory to Him. Which isn’t always comfortable or easy, but it’s always worth it. It’s about walking with God… His word lighting your path, His Spirit strengthening you, following in Jesus’ footsteps. He is our focus; grace is our motivation.

I want to encourage you that if you’re afraid to take this next step, that fear is not from God. He has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. His love casts out fear. There’s nothing magical about the water, but there is something supernatural about taking this first step of obedience after starting a relationship with Jesus. There is something powerful about going public with your faith, with letting the world know that Jesus has made you new, that your old life is gone and Jesus has made you new.

No matter what our next step is, we can hold Jesus’ words from Matthew 28:20 close to our hearts: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Because of this truth, because He is with us, we can all be brave. We can all step out with an expectant heart and eyes fixed on Him. We can all enjoy the journey, letting God the Father, the Master Potter, form and shape us into who He created us to be.

Seek God’s heart for you today, alert for what He will do next, and boldly take your next step with Him. One foot in front of the other.

Even if you fall, His love never fails.