Have you ever approached a task, maybe something like organizing the garage, and literally felt the energy and enthusiasm draining from your body? This happens because the task is so huge, you don’t even know where to start. Many things in life present these sinking thoughts. A new job, an infant crying night after night, a sin problem, a fractured marriage, mounting debt – the list goes on and on. I remember a problem presented to my co-pastor and I that seemed so difficult, so impossible that the overwhelming feeling was helplessness. Looking back on that occasion, we have marveled at the Lord’s blessing in sifting through the layers of difficulty to come to a solution. One single practical thing stands out in retrospect – When the problem is greater than you can handle, do the next thing. And when you’ve completed that task, do the next thing. The way is made plain for the righteous, but it is usually revealed in steps. The key to having the way opened to us is to be obedient in the moment to what we know to do. You see, problems do not resolve themselves by waiting for inspiration or complete understanding. A small thorn plant eventually becomes an oppressive hedge of thorns. And yet, even hedges can be removed if attached one stalk at a time. Are you surrounded by a hedge of thorns? Is your problem so great that you have become paralyzed with fear only to see it grow greater? God’s grace is available to you, and it is found in getting up, getting busy, doing what you know to do today. The rest of the way will be made plain in His time, one step at a time.