A little at a time
"You know how you eat an elephant?" the professor asked a group of overwhelmed students during finals week. "One piece at a time."
The students chuckled at the metaphor, but its meaning wasn't lost on them. We all face big challenges. Often, these are issues that seem to come out of nowhere and hit us hard. Our world can go from calm and routine to chaotic and crazy in minutes. The problems can seem so big that they engulf us in chaos and fear.
In the New Testament, Jesus says this to his closest followers: "In the world you will have troubles; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). That means times of trouble are not unexpected, even for people of faith. However, when we are able to take small steps of faith, breaking down the "elephant" of a problem into smaller pieces, we can make progress when it comes to finding ways to overcome.
One passage says this: "For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right and says to you, 'Do not fear; I will help you'" (Isaiah 41:13).
The image is one of a parent taking the hand of a small child and leading the child along a difficult trail, step by step. God helps us break the big issues into smaller ones and the big journeys into smaller steps, so that we can make it through. Along the way, we find courage and our strength and wisdom grow as we watch the difficulty become part of our growth.
A song I sang in my young adult years in church says, "O God, you are my God; And I will ever praise you. I will seek you in the morning, and I will learn to walk in your ways. And step by step you'll lead me, and I will follow you all of my days."
The big things become less daunting when we break them into smaller pieces. The long journeys become more bearable when we allow God to lead us one step at a time.
