I don’t know about y’all, but I’m a girl who loves a plan. I think I want to see several stepping stones on the path ahead at all times. Can you relate? I don’t know about how things go in your life, but I have found that God will rarely give me the whole picture of something He’s calling me into up front. Instead of seeing several steps ahead, my lived experience tends to feel a lot more like reaching my foot out in the fog for the next step.  

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I had a spiritual mentor, Dewey, who taught me how to work through this while he was teaching me how to pray for others. Dewey used to encourage me in listening for the Lord in prayer for others with the image of a tissue box. He’d say, “Sometimes, all I can see is the little top piece sticking out of the box. I’ve got to reach over and grab it, and what do you know? There’s a whole tissue there! A whole lot more than I can see before I grab it.” His point was, when we listen to the Lord when praying for others, we might hear a little whisper that doesn’t make sense. Lean into it, pray into it, and you might be surprised what the Holy Spirit is showing up to do. It’s our job to step out in faith and say the thing God put on our hearts, and it’s the Holy Spirit’s job in that moment to work on someone’s heart.

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Dewey’s cheesy tissue box analogy is generally applicable to living a life by faith. The unknown can be really scary. But there’s no need to drown in fear of the unknown. I serve a God who sees the whole picture, even when I can’t. He’s guiding my steps. Even if the steps end up being rocky, hard, or painful, God’s got me in them. I don’t need to have it all figured out in the details or the big picture; I just need to take the next step.  

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In our key verses today, we see Abraham being remembered and praised for living his life just like that. He leaves everything he knows in obedience to a call from God, who he likely had just met. He did all that by faith, not by knowledge. I love the part where it says Abraham was “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” What are you hoping to see in your life that needs God to build it in order for it to be possible? Is it a big dream? Is it restoration? Is it healing? Is it your “one more” coming to faith?  

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We talk a lot at ACF about how blessing is on the other side of obedience. It’s a real thing, y’all. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve experienced it and witnessed it in the lives of others. Where is God calling you to take a next step, even if it feels foggy, unknown, or uncomfortable? Maybe you just took one through a Restoration Life commitment. Maybe you’re still thinking about how you fit into that vision. What could be waiting for you on the other side of your yes? Do like Dewey used to tell me: just grab the piece you can see and watch what all God’s got on the other side of your obedience. You never know what story He’s already writing on the other side of your next step.

Do you know what your next step is? If not, take a moment today to ask God where He’s inviting you to move, even if you can’t see what comes after it. Maybe you do know your next step. If so, what’s one meaningful way you can step into it this week?

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Whether it’s a conversation, a commitment, or something else entirely, we can all pray:

“God, help me grab the piece I can see and trust You with the rest.”