Whole Hearted Week: One More Step
Let me tell you something that still makes me laugh. I “ran” 42 miles one time with zero training. And when I say “ran,” I mean it was basically an aggressive limp that I am sure looked ridiculous. I wasn’t focused on my pace, mostly because there was too much pain to focus at all. I was focused on just putting one foot in front of the other.
I finished. Not because I’m fast. Not because I’m built different. Not because I had some elite endurance plan. I finished for one simple reason: I kept taking the next step.
And the longer I live with Jesus, the more I realize that’s how breakthrough works too. Not with one cinematic moment. Not with one perfect prayer. Not with one lightning bolt word from heaven. Most of the time, God speaks like this: next step.
“I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong…” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). In other words, life doesn’t always reward the fastest person, the loudest person, or the most naturally gifted person. Sometimes the win goes to the one who doesn’t quit. Sometimes the breakthrough goes to the one who stays faithful. Sometimes the miracle shows up for the one who keeps saying, “Okay God… what’s the next step?”
Because if you’re waiting on God to hand you the whole map, you might be waiting a while. God rarely gives full blueprints to people who won’t take the first step.
My 42-mile “run” was a spiritual lesson in disguise. At about mile eight, I remember thinking, this was a bad idea. At mile fifteen, I remember thinking, I don’t even know who I am anymore. At mile twenty-five, I stopped imagining the finish line and started obsessing over the next mailbox, the next streetlight, the next turn.
I didn’t have the strength for forty-two miles. But I usually had the strength for one more step.
And that’s the part people miss with God. We want clarity for the whole journey. God often gives clarity for the next step. We want God to speak in paragraphs. He often speaks in prompts. Forgive them. Apologize. Make the call. Get up. Open the Word. Stop hiding. Give. Serve. Go.
Not because He’s vague, but because He’s building something deeper than information. He’s building trust.
Proverbs says it clean: “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps” (Proverbs 16:9). And Psalm 37 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord” (Psalm 37:23). Notice what God promises to direct. Not just your dreams. Not just your destination. Your steps.
That means direction is often found in movement. Some people don’t hear God because they won’t move until they feel certain. But faith doesn’t start with certainty. Faith starts with surrender.
Kingdom City, this is how we live. We don’t drift. We align. We don’t stall out waiting on perfect conditions. We obey. We move. We trust.
So if you feel like you’re in a season where you can’t hear God clearly, don’t panic. Don’t spiral. Don’t assume He left. Ask yourself this: what’s the last step God put in front of me that I haven’t taken yet?
Because sometimes the next word from God is locked behind the last act of obedience.
And if you’re overwhelmed by the distance between where you are and where you want to be, let me set you free. You don’t need strength for the whole race today. You need courage for the next step. You don’t need to “run” forty-two miles right now. You need to make it to the next mailbox.
And yes, you might “run” it the way I did. Ugly. Humbling. An aggressive limp that should not be filmed. But you’ll be moving. And God directs moving people.
Prayer:
Lord, I’m not asking for the whole map. I’m asking for my next step. And I’m saying yes before You even say it. Direct my steps. Order my day. Help me obey quickly, trust deeply, and finish faithful. Amen.