One small step at a time
‘…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.’
(Romans 8:37, NIV)
Over recent weeks and months, I am sure that many of us have been thinking about the future and what the next step is going to be in relation to what seems to be the unending Coronavirus saga. While on the one hand, as a nation we seem to be making great strides forward with the drive to vaccinate everyone, on the other hand, there are still restrictions in place over what we can and cannot do; along with the increasing number of different virus variants that seem to be making an appearance in recent weeks. It can often feel like we are taking one step forward and 3 steps back.
The other day, when I was looking through Facebook, I saw a picture that caught my attention. The picture, shared above, came with the caption ‘The importance of small steps’. Upon seeing the picture, I was instantly reminded of a song that I used to sing with the Singing Company (junior choir), taken from the Kid’s Praise musicals, which has the line: ‘I’m climbing my mountain one step at a time’.
Now I can safely say that I have not climbed any mountains recently, although I have walked up some big hills. But I would imagine that any experienced mountain climber would tell you that in order to get to the top you need to go slow, steady, ‘one step at a time’; not taking big leaps, not to be in too much of a rush to get to the top.
The same can also be said for life in general, particularly over the last year when at times it has felt like we have been climbing a mountain. That mountain may have looked and felt very different for some than it did for others. It could have been a mountain of anxiety or fear; for others, it could have been a mountain of loneliness; for others still, it could have been a mountain of disappointment and regret over those things that we have been unable to do over the last year, the places we have not been able to go to, the people we have not been able to see. Whatever your mountain has been over the last year, sometimes it will have been easy to climb, and sometimes it will have been difficult. But like climbing a physical mountain, the trick to climbing our emotional and spiritual mountains is to take them one small step at a time, and slowly but surely, we will reach the top and overcome.
The other thing we need to remember is that, whatever our mountain may be right now, we do not face it alone. As well as the help and support we can find in our friends and family, we also have the assurance that God, through the power of His Holy Spirit, is always with us no matter what. God, because of His unending love for each one of us, will see us through each and every step we take so that we can be more than conquerors’.
As we go about our day-to-day activities, let us consider the steps that we are taking – both big and small. And in so doing, may we come to understand the importance of the small steps forward – for even the smallest of steps can lead to bigger things.
