Do the next thing.

If you have just received devastating test results, or have never-ending pain that doctors can't figure out. If your walking through the death of a child, or spouse, or experiencing the pain of a failed marriage, or a child that has gone wayward. If your struggle is financially, or your just weary from life......... Whatever it is your facing, it can be exhausting, isolating, and we can feel crushed by the weight of it all.

One of my favorite authors, Elisabeth Elliot, has written in several of her books sharing her wisdom to "do the next thing." Her advice has been a great encouragement to myself and many other women. She was a woman called to great suffering. She lost her first husband very young, as he was a martyr on the mission field. She then stayed there for several years to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to those same people who killed her husband. A few short years later, she lost her second husband to cancer. Her response to this all...... "Trust in God, obey him, and do the next thing."

This was a wonderful reminder for me in the first year of our marriage as we walked through the loss of our first child. Then right now, a few years later as my husband is called to working over forty hours a week and I am caring for two children under the age of two. In the way that Elisabeth served Christ ------ no matter what, I am reminded that my lot was a gift and calling from God.

"Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him......... In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness." -Elisabeth Elliot.

How is it then that we can respond in obedience to Christ amidst deep waters and dark valleys? We fight with the biggest weapon that we have as Christians; prayer and his word. To act in faith and obedience, I pray, "Lord, I believe you are going to deliver me from...... I am asking for your help. I am going to continue to remind myself of truth. But, right now, I am going to do what you have called me to do." A short excerpt from a poem she wrote reads,

“Many a questioning, many a fear, Many a doubt, hath its quieting here. Moment my moment, let down from Heaven, Time, opportunity, guidance, are given. Fear not tomorrows, Child of the King, Trust them with Jesus, ‘DO THE NEXT THING.’ Do it immediately; do it with prayer; Do it reliantly, casting all care; Do it with reverence, tracing His Hand Who placed it before thee with earnest command. Stayed on Omnipotence, safe ’neath His wing, Leave all resultings, ‘DO THE NEXT THING.’”

-Elisabeth Elliot

Do the next thing.

Do it immediately.

We cannot let the trial dictate our lives.

After our miscarriage, every single day felt impossible. I couldn't understand how the lives of others were still continuing around me, because it felt like mine had just stood still. The getting up, the showering, the once simple and mundane tasks felt enormous. Not only emotionally, but physically. I was still in so much pain. I had to walk through a lot of the typical things you experience with labor, without the "reward" - the baby.

As our plans as parents were thrown into confusion and sadness and we were then faced with the question of what happens next. I had longed to wake up each morning to a crying baby to console in my arms.

Through each seemingly impossible fear that rushes to our minds, the Lord had calmed us with several great truths about himself and our circumstance. 1 and 2 Peter reminded me that all the trials and suffering I will face here will result in praise and glory in the great day of Jesus Christ when he returns again.

It was two weeks after the loss and I received a text from a dear friend that read: "The Lord bless you, and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance on you, and give you peace......... Do the next thing friend."

She is a very sweet friend, and had known that I needed those words greately.

But the mundane seemed like a mountain.

I took it one tiny step, in faith, at a time.

I got up...... brushed my teeth, showered, and ate food. Then prayed my way through each task. As I walked in obedience with the strength that God provided, I was given clarity on what to do next. I was then able to begin the cooking, household chores, and any of the other tasks that I had put off in fear of being able to inadequately face.

There were many days that I cried out in tears begging for grace and help, and would have rather kept myself hidden under my covers until the grief had passed. I faithfully kept asking for strength...... to do the next thing.

If you are being called to walk through an overwhelming trial, I would encourage you to just do the next thing. Pray, and then do the next thing. Move forward trusting that God will meet you. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. As you look to him, he will guide you.

Do the next thing.