The next step

When I was a young boy, I had a poster on the door of my wardrobe. The words went something like this

'Lord you know the way, I need not know the path,

just give me enough light to see the next step.'

When we go through life, some of us have clear and specific plans, others of us don't and things surprise us. For many of us it is a mixture of the two - we have some general ideas or some specific targets but then there are a lot of surprise opportunities or challenges along the way. The apostle Paul was similar - he had a call to the gentiles and was ministering in Galatia but then God cut across his intentions and through a vision called him to Macedonia. That was going well and then all of a sudden he ended up in jail - but then that led to different people coming to follow Jesus.

In our individual and church lives it is similar. We know we are called to be witnesses from Jerusalem (where we are) to the ends of the earth. Hopefully we have a some idea of our gifts and strengths and are using them in families, careers, and churches for people's good. But in the middle of all that we need to have open ears, eyes and hearts to respond to the specific opportunities and challenges that God places before us that we may never have thought of. Our walk with God is not set and forget, it is interactive and dynamic.

Lord give us enough light to see the next step.

David Wanstall, 29/05/2008