Baby Steps

If there were ever a prophet I could relate to, it’s Elijah. Life in the middle place has never been of interest to me. In fact, when I find myself spending more than a week on an even keel, I start wondering if something is going wrong. I completely understand the dilemma of calling fire down from heaven one day and hiding in a cave from a crazed, murderous woman the next. Not that it was right in the eyes of the Lord, but I get it. Life for me is about the highs and lows; it’s what keeps me going. I crave big experiences and have never done well with taking baby steps. It’s all in or nothing that keeps me on my toes.

Unfortunately for me, God doesn’t work very often in the “big experience.” Fearing the loss of his life, Elijah headed for the hills. On Mount Sinai, he finds himself in conversation with God. The Lord tells him to get out of the cave and go wait on the mountain for Him to pass by. Think about this for a minute… God was about to reveal Himself to Elijah. Can you imagine what was going through Elijah’s head? I know I would be ready for a “big experience.” So, the Lord sends some big experiences. There’s a wind strong enough to shatter rocks, an earthquake, and a fire. But the bible says that the Lord was not in any of those “experiences.”

I can almost feel the disappointment creeping up on Elijah. Scripture doesn’t say how long the wind, earthquake and fire lasted. For me, even a few minutes would have been enough to start wondering if I missed something. Did God walk by, and I didn’t see Him? Did I do something wrong, and He changed His mind? Where is He? Then finally, after the fire, a still small voice speaks. It’s the Lord.

Elijah had experienced the Lord in a big way when He called fire down from heaven, but that’s not a standard expectation we can set. I find myself getting discouraged sometimes when the Lord is leading me on a path of baby steps. I want to share my testimony with someone, see a light bulb go on in their head and strike a trot to the baptismal 10 minutes later with them. Then, the Lord reminds me of the years of baby steps I had to take to ever get close to taking the plunge. I want to speak a few words and watch someone’s life transformed before my eyes. Then the Lord reminds me of the lifetime of baby steps it took me to overcome the simplest of hang-ups.

There will be times that we spend months and years taking baby steps with someone and never see the fruit of our works. The Lord says “go to work in the morning and stick to it until evening without watching the clock. You never know from moment to moment how your work will turn out in the end,” Ecc 11:6 (MSG). I must trust that the seeds I am planting may not be watered by me. Paul worked hard and took many baby steps with the Corinthian church. Sometimes even backwards steps, but He knew He wasn’t in charge of the outcome. “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.,” 1 Cor 3:6.

Babies don’t just get up one day and run a marathon. They spend months taking small, wobbly steps with the assistance of someone they blindly trust. It’s our job to listen carefully in the still, small wind and blindly trust the Lord down the path He leads us on, so that others can blindly trust us to hold their hand while they learn to walk.

Lord Jesus, teach me to watch carefully for You whether it be in the “big experience” or the small, still wind. Give me joy in the baby steps like I had when I watched my own children take their first steps. Give me wisdom to lead others down the path You are calling us to. Guide my every step whether it be big or small, so that I can support others as they grow. In Jesus’ Name.