First Steps

I know I’m old. Even with that admission, I’m shocked when I realize the original movie “The Karate Kid” came out in 1984. That’s the year my sons were born and they’re 42 years old. Time gets by.  Of course, that makes the survival of the memes from that movie even more impressive. Most of us are familiar with one of the many YouTube videos when Mr. Miyagi, the karate instructor, tells young Daniel to wash the deck floor, wash the cars and paint the fence. When Daniel is insulted he’s not  being taught “real karate,” Mr. Miyagi shows young Daniel that basic strokes within the chores were the basic defensive moves of karate. Daniel had been learning karate all the time. He just didn’t recognize the first steps. 

Few of us do. Think about it. Most of us know the steps we need to take in order to make our life better. We don’t lack information. We lack trust. We don’t believe the small steps required at the beginning of the process will do anything that makes any real difference. Want to lose weight? The experts recommend we start walking. Begin with fifteen minutes a day and gradually add time and distance to your exercise. How does fifteen minutes make any difference? We don’t believe it will and because we don’t believe, we either do nothing at all or we overdo it and end up hurting ourselves. 

Namaan didn’t believe washing in the Jordan would heal his leprosy. He thought Elisha would come out and wave his arms around while shouting out all kinds of magical incantations. When Elisha told him to go wash in the river, Namaan was disappointed and insulted. To heal a general, Namaan must have thought, would take more than seven dips in the Jordan River. Yet, seven dips in the water did heal him. 

Whenever anyone talks to me about how they can get closer to God, I begin with the obvious suggestions. I suggest they get started in a serious habit of prayer and Bible study. From there, as the Spirit becomes a more familiar presence, we can see more about how the Lord wants to lead us. Most people won’t do it. They want something flashier. Learning how to show up every day with your Bible and journal doesn’t impress them as having the spiritual sizzle necessary for the life change they say they want.  However, whenever we study the lives of great saints, we find out their spiritual practices that led to their deeply spiritual lives were simple and basic. 

Most of us want more fireworks. So, most of us don't do anything and then, we’re surprised nothing happens. We want to do something dramatic. We want something over the top. Taking small, first steps don’t seem to be that impressive.

And you know what? God wants us to see and do dramatic things as well…but that’s not where we start. We start with the basics. We start with showing up and reading our Bible every morning. We start by praying for our families and friends. We learn to build our faith by praying for simple things first. Then, we move up to harder things. 

There are two reasons for this. First, faith, like any muscle, has to be exercised if it’s going to grow stronger. Faith is proven in obedience. Jesus teaches us how to live. We hear it and put His teachings into practice and in our obedience we discover the power and truth of Jesus’s words. 

The second reason is trust is learned. Yes, we learn to trust God and in the same moment, we prove our trustworthiness to God. Remember the parable of the talents? If you’re faithful with one, you get trusted with two. If you’re faithful with two, you get trusted with five. Every servant who is trusted this time proved to be faithful last time. If we’re not going to be faithful with what has already been given to us, why would God trust us with more?

All of us have big dreams, but few of us will take small steps. 

If we want to do more, if we want to know more, if we want to do more…start where we are. Start where we can.

The greatest lessons are learned in the smallest ways. The longest journeys begin with the smallest steps. We are where we are and where we are is the best place to start. 

Take the next step, however small. Just take it and everything else will follow.