Tripping Over Typeset

It was such a simple step but I kept putting it off.

Why do I do that?

I see something needs to change.  I want something to change. I instinctively know it needs to change but something holds me back.

The mantra circles around in my brain… “If you want something different, you have to do something different.” 

Yet nothing changes if nothing changes.

It’s simple in its thought process.

We know change is needed but the steps to get us there overwhelm, slow us down or eat away at our psyche until we just talk ourselves out of making any change.

This past Sunday Dave shared a great sermon titled: Activate – (You can listen by clicking here.) In a nutshell, here’s what he said:

We must activate our faith and put action toward the direction God has for us. (James 2:14-26 – Faith without works is dead.) Life-giving faith sets things in motion.

• SEEK – What is He asking of ME? –What is that area God keeps talking to me about? 
• SEE – God, give us a picture of what can be. People can’t see what they can’t see. (In the beginning of the computer age, people believed there would be a need for maybe 5 computers in the whole world. People couldn’t see what they couldn’t see. Now we can’t see our lives without them.) We need God to show us what we can’t see.
• STEP – God is calling us to step away from some things and step towards other things. Babies in their first steps are timid but as they keep trying, they find their stride. It is the same with us. God is calling and cheering us on to take those steps. But we have to take the steps. God can’t take them for us. We must activate our faith and step! — Keep stepping and you’ll find your stride.

God keeps urging and telling me to do this writing thing but I’m not always obedient in taking those steps.

Maybe I’m the only one who does this… or maybe not.

There are things in our lives we know we should be doing but we let other things eat up our energy, time and effort. We end up filling our time with other things instead of carving out and making time for what He calls us to do.

We might even justify our lack of acting…. I have to work, I have to take care of my kids, I have to clean my house,  I have to….(fill in the blank.)

But what are we doing with the other hours?  Are there better ways to spend them? What are we putting off? avoiding? and skirting the issue with that God is calling us to?

Where is He asking us to step?

When I sat down to write this, I looked at the view in front of me.

I can’t really ignore this view. It literally is right. in. front. of. me. There’s no avoiding it.

For the last several weeks, I have sat in this spot and said, “I want a bird feeder right here so I can watch the birds.”

My bird feeders are on the back deck. But with this new writing space, my view faces the front. I can’t see what I viewed before. My position has shifted and it looks different now.

So I sat down again today and said the same thing. “I want a bird feeder out here…”

And I heard the whisper in my heart… “What step are you going to take to do that?”

My head cocked to the side and I paused…

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.

.

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What am I going to do about that?

I can do something about this!

I can take the first step RIGHT NOW!

• I have the bird feeder.
• I have the feed.
• I even have the stand for it to hang on.

I just have to get my butt out of the chair, put forth the energy to stop saying what I want and act on what I want instead.

It was such a simple step but I kept putting it off.

Yes, this was something simple. And other steps are bigger, more complicated and tougher to do.

Yet the act of taking the first step moved me toward making the next step.

And sometimes that’s what we need.

We have to take the first step.  Getting going is sometimes the hardest part.

So what is it God is asking of you?

• Where do you need to be stepping but aren’t?
• What is keeping you from stepping in that direction? fear, insecurity, procrastination,… what is it?
• What first step can you take today that will move you in that direction?

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  ~ Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

He has great plans for us. But will we take the steps to walk in them? 

Let’s take these steps together!

You are loved ~Rachel