Do the next thing...

My brother and I were talking, oh, probably about a month or more ago, about the future and setting goals and stuff. He said that he had always supposed the main difference between the two of us was that I set goals to achieve, and he didn't. Of course, I had to set the record straight. I don't know that I've ever really set a goal in my life. I've just always done the next thing. Hard to believe for some, I guess, but it's really true. A couple of years ago, I came across this poem (from an old Saxon legend) in Elisabeth Elliot's Secure in the Everlasting Arms:

"Many a questioning, many a fear.

Many a doubt hath its quieting here.

Moment by 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!"

Anyway...we were talking about him finding a job and what kind, and for how long, etc. And I passed along that little bit of advice, as well as some other encouragement I'd been given by some friends, in that as we do the next thing, God shows us the next thing, and then the next, etc. Well...he got a job, one that he's not super excited about, but that he can do and at the end of three months, he/they will decide if he will stay or not. Well...he now knows he doesn't really want to stay, but he hasn't known in what direction to go. WELL...he told me the other night that as someone was checking out (Will is a receptionist at a vet clinic. Go figure!), he had to explain some charges on the guy's bill. To make a interesting-to-probably-only-me-story short, he found out that they both have the same degree, and that this guy (a prosecuting attorney) may have a job for him whenever he's ready. THEN that same day, he met someone he already knew but found out that she, too, is a receptionist at a vet clinic, and looking to work at a different clinic. Voila! Possible new job and possible new replacement in the same day.

While I was listening to Will get excited about the possibility of this new job, and being amazed at how it was all coming together, I, too, was in awe. I mean, could this possibly demonstrate any better "Trust them to Jesus. Do the next thing"?
So as I walk, I am reminded of this: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Ps 119:105). As most everyone has heard, the lamp that you carry shows only enough light for the next step, and no more. I have just really been encouraged to see, yet again, how God WILL show you the next step, and then the next, and so on. Plus, I have also seen how the steps may not come day to day or week to week. My brother and I had that discussion close to a month or more ago. It wasn't until this week that he got, quite possibly, the next thing. Other friends have said it took years before the next thing was brought. You see, I get so impatient to see God move quickly. But He doesn't move on my timetable. (Hallelujah!) The thing to remember is that He IS moving.
I feel so elementary in my learning processes. I've had this knowledge for quite some time now, and yet I didn't really get it. I am still learning to trust God in EVERY aspect of my life. I mean, it's easy to trust God with my husband, house, and kids. These are things I DON'T have and DON'T face on a daily basis. However, I worry about all sorts of other little things that are completely stupid. How freeing and relaxing it is to KNOW that God is at work, and that He WILL show me the next thing.

By the way, I HIGHLY recommend Secure in the Everlasting Arms by Elisabeth Elliot. She is such a great author, and when I read it the first time, I thought for sure she had written it just for me. Get it. Read it.