Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,
“This is the way; walk in it.” ~Isaiah 30:21
“This is the way; walk in it.” ~Isaiah 30:21
Sometimes I love the band Needtobreathe so much that I seriously wonder…Do I love them more than Coldplay? I’m not kidding, I have actually spent time analyzing this question. Haven’t quite made it to pro-con-list stage but that’s only because I’m convinced there’s not a single con to either band. (Other than, perhaps, the desert-like dryspell between Coldplay albums and that scary-looking horse on the front of The Outsiders case.)
The fact that I’m even questioning this, if you know me at all, is huge. Because I love Coldplay more than Mario Lopez loves hair gel. (Zing!)
And if you don’t know me you’re thinking, um, isn’t it possible to have two favorite bands? Done, problem solved. You’re probably right. But come on, sometimes practicality just isn’t fun.
Anyhow, I adore Needtobreathe. Don’t think I could pick a favorite song of theirs, but I can tell you with certainty which I sing out loud most often. This one:
(There’s probably a better video of this song somewhere…) Okay, so it’s really more of a relationship song, right? A song about promises and dreams and not letting someone down.
But when I sing it, it’s all about these couple lines, straight-up literal: I need more time / Just a few more months and we’ll be fine.
It’s my, “So much I want to do, so little time” theme song. And it’s so apropos to my current mental state. (And yes, I’ve wanted to use the word “apropos” forever!)
See, I’ve been thinking a lot about my life lately. About how I’m spending each day. About how little writing I’m getting done. How long it’s been since I had that “making a difference” feeling. How there’s so much I want to do and so much I want to be writing- but also character-wise. How I want to be a leader, a life-changer, a person with purpose and passion.
But also about how I’m having trouble seeing the big picture. Figuring out which dream takes priority. How to balance.
I think maybe I’m not alone in feeling, at times, like my dreams are too big and too numerous to follow. I find myself pulled too many directions. I get overwhelmed. I lose focus.
I start singing Needtobreathe lyrics to myself.
Which, while possibly amusing to onlookers (like that guy in the car next to me at a red light just yesterday), does nothing to soothe my frazzled nerves.
It’s funny, though, where spiritual jolts come from…
I meet quite a few homeless and displaced men where I work and some of them say the most poignant things. I wish I could remember which one said this (I know it’s not the guy who proposed to me…or the one who told me, quite proudly, that he wasn’t carrying a knife), but even though I can’t remember this man’s name, his words stuck with me. He was asked in a newsletter interview about his plans for the future. His answer:
“I just want to do the next right thing.”
The next right thing.
If there’s a downside to my dream-big-dreams personality, it’s this tendency to lose myself in what-ifs and how-tos and what-nexts.
When really, all God has ever asked of me – of us – is that we just do the next right thing. Walk through the most immediate open door. Obey in the every day things. Respond to the little nudges.
And one by one, those small things – the hurting person we take time for, the job we do our best at, the God-given gifts we make use of – they’ll put us on the path to the bigger things. The dreams. The divine ambitions. The “making a difference” longings-come-true.
We – I – don’t need to see the picture. We just need to do the next right thing. And trust God to point us in the next right direction. Which is exactly what He promises to do:
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” ~Isaiah 30:21
It’s that truth, really, more than a Needtobreathe song I should be reciting day in and day out. I don’t need more time. I need that homeless man’s outlook: I just want to do the next right thing.
So tell me: Do you ever find yourself overwhelmed by the scope of your dreams and the little-ness of your time and abilities? What’s the “next right thing” for you? For me, today, I think it’s as simple as hopping on the elliptical, then getting to work on time…and doing my best on a report I’ve been putting off for weeks! 🙂
Comments 4
Ah, I loved this. “The next right thing.” That’s going to stay in my head. Thanks.
Also, I love NTB. Saw them twice in concert and if you can believe it, they sound even better live.
I have not seen Coldplay, but I love them too. I think I love NTB more. 😉
Oooh, twice in concert, Jessica?! I’m trying really hard not to be jealous. I have never caught NTB in concert and they’ve been to my city like three times in the past couple years.
BUT, I have seen Coldplay three times. And all three times, I couldn’t stop smiling all night…and into the next day…
Melissa, I told someone who was feeling overwhelmed by life that very thing yesterday, only I said, “Just do the next thing. Don’t do the thing after the next thing, just the next thing.”
I think sometimes life gets so big and complicated that it’s hard to know what to do. We see so many things we want to do. Don’t think I’ve ever mastered the focus thingy. lol
Funny, Pat, that your advice to your friend is exactly what I’ve been pondering…:) Yeah, I’m definitely someone who likes a foreshadowing of four or five or eight or eighteen steps ahead before making a move…doesn’t always work that way. 🙂